Barley Court

Updated 16 August 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. 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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

One inspector, an assistant inspector and an Expert by Experience carried out this inspection. 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.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because people are often out and we wanted to be sure there would be people at the service to speak with us.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. For example, notifications the service had sent us about important events that had taken place or feedback from the public. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people who used the service and three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including two care workers, a team leader, the deputy manager, registered manager and the provider’s quality assurance manager. We also received feedback from a healthcare professional.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and five medication records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. They sent us additional information in relation to specific incidents and staffing at the service.

Updated 16 August 2019

About the service

Barley Court is an extra care housing scheme that provides personal care to people living in their own homes. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

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

Systems were in place to protect people from the risk of abuse and risks to their individual safety had been managed well. Staff had received adequate training and supervision to ensure people received safe, good quality care.

People’s consent had been obtained in line with the relevant legislation and people were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The staff were kind and caring and treated people with dignity and respect. They had built up caring relationships with people and understood their individual needs and preferences well.

People received help with their eating, drinking and healthcare where this was part of their care package and they were encouraged to remain as independent as possible.

People received care to meet their individual needs and wishes and this involved at the end of their life. However, people’s wishes regarding this period of their life had not routinely been assessed and we have therefore made a recommendation within the report about end of life care.

The service was managed well and there was an open culture where staff and people using the service could raise concerns or issues if they wished to. These were listened to and acted upon.

The systems in place to monitor if people received good quality care were effective at driving improvement within the service. When things had gone wrong, lessons had been learnt. For example, the provider had identified some recent concerns regarding the safe management of people’s medicines and was putting processes in place to improve this area.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good published in (February 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

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