Archived: Cheviot Gardens

Cheviot Gardens is an Extra care housing scheme providing personal care to people. The service provides support to older people living in rental and shared ownership homes. At the time of our inspection there were 31 people using the service.

Not everyone who used the service received personal 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.

People were not always protected against the risk of avoidable harm as risk management plans did not give staff clear guidance how to mitigate risks. People’s medicines were not always recorded in line with good practice. As and when required medicines protocols were not always in place. Staff personnel files did not always contain staff’s full employment history.

People did not always receive a service that was well-led. Systems and processes in place failed to identify all the issues found during this inspection. Records were not always easily accessible or in place at the time of the inspection.

People continued to be protected against the risk of abuse as staff knew how to identify, respond to and escalate suspected abuse. People continued to receive support from sufficient numbers of staff deployed.

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.

People and staff were complimentary about the registered manager and their management style. The registered manager worked in partnership with other healthcare professionals and services to drive improvements. People confirmed their views were frequently sought and action would be taken on any issues identified.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 19 November 2019).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to staffing levels, fire safety and management. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

The overall rating for the service has changed from good to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection. We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Cheviot Gardens on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have identified breaches in relation to medicines management, risk assessments and good governance at this inspection.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

Cheviot Gardens is an Extra care housing scheme. People using the service lived in rental apartments with a combination of rental and shared ownership homes available exclusively to people aged 55 or over. All the flats were in a large gated community.

Not everyone who used the service received personal 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. At the time of the inspection, there were 38 people receiving personal care.

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

People using the service told us they were happy living at Cheviot Gardens and staff took good care of them. They told us they felt safe living there. People were supported to take risks that were managed, this meant they could lead independent lives. People’s flats were checked to ensure they were living in a safe environment. There were enough staff employed to meet people’s needs, this included helping them to take their medicines in a safe manner.

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 received a through induction when they first started working for the provider and regular training which meant they were able to support people effectively. People received appropriate support with regards to their meals and their healthcare support needs.

People told us staff were caring and looked after them well. Staff supported people to maintain their independence and respected their right to privacy. People’s human rights were respected.

Individual care plans were in place for each person which considered their support needs and how staff could help them to achieve their goals. There were a range of activities in place which helped people to avoid social isolation. People told us the provider listened when they had concerns.

The service was well-led. People and staff told us the registered manager was approachable and available to give advice. There was an open culture at the service and people and staff were encouraged to provide feedback as to how the service was run. There was culture of learning and improvement which was achieved through regular audits and feedback.

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 19 October 2018 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on when the service registered with us.

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