Creative Support - Duncan Court

Updated 25 July 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out by an inspector and an expert by experience.

An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type:

This service provides 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 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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. The provider had informed us that the registered manager would be away at the time of this inspection.

Notice of inspection:

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We asked the provider to complete a provider information return (PIR). This is a document which asks for certain information about the service, including what they think they are doing well and their plans to develop the service in future.

We reviewed information we held about the service, including notifications of serious incidents that the provider is required by law to tell us about.

We spoke with a contract monitoring officer from the local authority, who commission this provider to provide care at this location.

During the inspection:

We visited the service on 11 and 13 June 2019.

We spoke with seven people who used the service and one person’s relative. We spoke with the regional manager, a service manager, an extra care manager, team leader and three care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. We looked at records of care, support and medicines records for four people. We looked at records of recruitment and supervision for four staff members.

We looked at rotas, training schedules and audits of the service.

Updated 25 July 2019

About the service:

Duncan Court is an extra care service providing support to people who live in their own flats in a purpose built block. The service has a communal lounge, dining area and bathrooms on each floor. Care is provided by Creative Support and the building is owned and managed by a housing association. At the time of our inspection there were 34 people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

People told us they felt safe living at the service and that staff were kind and caring. Medicines were safely managed and there were measures to address risks to people using the service. People were safeguarded from abuse.

People knew who the manager was and felt comfortable raising concerns with her. Managers had systems in place to ensure that staff and people using the service were engaged.

People were positive about the service. One person told us “They are very good, I am happy here.” People had the opportunity to speak up about their care but systems of keyworking were not effective.

People were supported to attend health appointments, but health action plans lacked some detail about how to support long term health conditions. People said they had enough support to eat and drink from staff and nutritional needs were clearly assessed and met by care workers.

People reported that their care needs were met by staff who knew what they needed. People’s plans lacked details about their preferences for how they liked to receive care but this was understood by care workers. The service had identified this at audit and had plans to address this. People had access to activities and were encouraged to engage with the wider community.

Rating at last inspection:

At our last inspection in May 2017 we rated this service ‘good’.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up:

The service was rated 'good'. We will continue to monitor information and intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection guidelines. We may inspect sooner if any concerning information is received.

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