Green Meadows

Updated 8 November 2022

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

This inspection was completed by one inspector.

Service and service type

Green Meadows is registered to provide care and support to people living in specialist 'extra care' housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is bought or rented and is the occupant's own home. People's care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at people's personal care and support service.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be available to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 27 September 2022 and ended on 4 October 2022. We visited the location’s office/service on 28 September 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed registration reports and information we had received about the service since they were registered, including notifications. Notifications are information about specific important events the service is legally required to send to us. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used information gathered as part of monitoring activity that took place on 6 May 2022 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people who use the service. We sought feedback from the local authority and health professionals who work with the service and received responses from four of them. We spoke with three care staff members, digital project manager and the registered manager.

We reviewed a range of records, including four people's care records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and records relating to staff training. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits, surveys, policies and procedures were also reviewed.

Updated 8 November 2022

About the service

Green Meadows is a domiciliary care agency and 'extra care' service. It is registered to provide personal care to people who live in their own apartments within a dedicated housing scheme. The property consists of apartments, privately owned or rented by the occupant. There are also some shared communal areas and facilities; such as a dining room, lounges and gardens which people can access.

Not everyone who used the service received the regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care'; for example, help with tasks related to personal hygiene or medication. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection there were eight people receiving a regulated activity.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

The management and staff team were committed to ensuring people received a service which was caring. We received positive feedback from people about the service they were receiving. Everyone spoke very highly of the care staff and people felt they were cared for with kindness and compassion.

People told us they felt safe and secure when receiving care. People were supported to meet their nutritional and hydration needs, medicines were safely managed and staff contacted healthcare professionals when required. Staff followed all necessary infection prevention measures.

People told us they had been involved in care planning and care plans reflected people's individual needs and choices. Staff were flexible and responsive to people's needs. Independence was promoted.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff understood consent and were clear that people had the right to make their own choices.

Safe recruitment practices were followed and appropriate checks were undertaken, which helped make sure only suitable staff were employed. There were enough care staff to maintain the schedule of visits.

Staff told us they felt supported, received regular supervision and training.

People and staff were confident the registered manager would listen to them and take any necessary action should the need arise.

A range of audits and quality monitoring processes were in place and the registered manager sought feedback from people, staff and external professionals.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

This service was registered with us on 6 September 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the date the service was registered.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.