We carried out a review of the data available to us about The Lawns on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about The Lawns, you can give feedback on this service.
The Lawns is a housing with care scheme. People live on site in their own flats and have secure tenancies with a housing provider. Norse Care provides care and support over a twenty-four-hour period. At the time of the inspection, 28 people were receiving care. 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
The service was exceptional in placing people at the heart of the service with a strong person centred, caring and responsive ethos. People consistently told us how they were treated with exceptional kindness, compassion and respect. We received many accounts of people's views of their support. Comments included, “This is my home from home. The staff are absolutely wonderful. They’re always there when you need them and they’re always cheerful”, and, “The staff couldn’t be nicer. There’s nothing I can think of that could be better.”
People's needs and wishes were fully supported by staff that knew them well. People were respected and valued as individuals and empowered as partners in their care.
People received personalised care and support specific to their needs and preferences. People's needs were considered and reviewed, and changes made where improvements were needed. Each person was respected as an individual, with their own social and cultural diversity, values and beliefs.
The management of the service had instilled a culture of care and support. Excellent teamwork was embedded in the service to ensure that people received continuity of care. Staff considered themselves, people using the service and their visitors as family and this ensured that people were cared for in a way that provided them with a happy, meaningful and enjoyable lifestyle.
The registered manager was passionate about the quality of service delivery and led by example. They followed best practice and pursued opportunities to improve care and people's experiences to attain better outcomes. This was often over and above the regulated activity of providing personal care to people.
Staff were skilled, motivated and knowledgeable. They provided flexible care and support in line with a person's needs and wishes. The stability of the staff team helped to ensure people felt cared for, understood and supported to achieve positive outcomes.
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 provided a safe environment and people's independence was not compromised. Risks were assessed to encourage people to do as much for themselves as they could.
Medicines were managed safely to ensure people received them safely and in accordance with their health needs and the prescriber's instructions.
Rating at last inspection: The last rating for this service was Good (published 16 December 2016).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
The Lawns provides people with personal care in their own homes. At the time of the inspection, 29 people were receiving care.
There was a registered manager at the service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
People received care and support from staff who were very kind, caring and compassionate. They often went above and beyond what was expected of them to ensure people were happy and contented.
Staff treated people with dignity and respected them as individuals. Staff had built up very good caring relationships with people which both the staff and people valued.
The staff encouraged people’s independence. This had resulted in an improvement in some people’s quality of life.
There were enough staff to meet people’s care needs and people received their medicines when they needed them. The staff knew how to keep people safe and people were involved in making their own decisions about the care they wanted to receive and this was respected.
People’s consent was requested before the staff performed any tasks. Where it was part of their care package, people received support to eat and drink enough to meet their needs. They were supported to maintain their health and advice from specialist healthcare professionals was sought when necessary.
There was an open and transparent culture at the service where people and staff felt listened to. They could raise any concerns they had without hesitation. The staff were happy working at the service and the people were happy with the care and support they received.
There was good leadership at the service which had created a culture of caring and treating people as individuals. The staff understood what was expected of them and they had received enough training and supervision to give them the skills and knowledge to provide people with safe and effective care.
The quality and safety of the service was regularly assessed and monitored to make sure the care and support that people received was of good quality and met their individual requirements.
People told us that the care workers treated them with respect. One person said, 'Oh yes, they (care workers) are very decent." Another person said, 'They (care workers) have been so kind to me." Another said, "They (care workers) never make me feel embarrassed."
We looked at the care records of five people who used the service and found that people experienced care, treatment and support that met their needs and protected their rights.
The provider monitored the service to ensure that people were provided with safe care and support. People were asked for their views about the service and their comments were acted on.
We found that the premises were suitable for running a domiciliary care service.
Recruitment checks were made on new care workers to ensure that they were suitable to work with vulnerable people.
People told us that they felt that their needs were met and that they were consulted about the care they were provided with. One person said, "I get all the help I need." Another person said, "I am quite happy."
We looked at the care records of four people who used the service which showed that they experienced care, treatment and support that met their needs and protected their rights.
All people spoke highly of the standard of care they received. All people we spoke with praised carers and said they were very happy with all staff.
People told us that they felt safe and added that they were not aware of any incidents regarding safety.
People stated that they were happy with the arrangement for administering medication that is generally held in their flats, but that staff administered it to them.
All people commented on how well the place was maintained and how clean it was kept.
Some people spoke in length about the care they received, explained how they call staff, how and what staff helped them with and their comments continually praised staff for 'excellent work'.
People were aware of the change of the provider that resulted from the reorganisation of Norfolk County Council and the formation of a new provider, Norse.