Creative Support - Coopers Court Extra Care Service

Updated 29 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. 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:

This 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.

Notice of inspection:

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did:

Before the inspection:

We did not ask 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 local authority contract monitoring officer. We were not aware of any concerns about the service.

During the inspection:

We spoke with nine people who used the service. We spoke with the registered manager and three care workers.

We looked at records of care, support and medicines management for five people.

We examined a range of records relating to the management of the service. This included records of recruitment, training and supervision for four care workers, overall training records and records of communications, staffing and audit.

After the inspection:

We contacted the local authority to further discuss our findings. We made calls to a further two care workers.

Updated 29 August 2019

About the service:

Creative Support- Coopers Court Extra Care is an extra care service which provides care and support to people who live in their own flats. The building is owned and maintained by a housing association. At the time of our inspection the service was providing personal care for 20 people.

Coopers Court was previously registered as part of Creative Support- Sonali Gardens.

People’s experience of using this service:

People told us they were treated with respect. People were involved in planning their care and had the opportunity to speak up. There were varied and interesting activities available to people.

People’s care needs were assessed and care plans developed to meet their needs. People received the right care in line with these plans.

People had the right support to eat, drink and stay healthy. Risks to people’s safety were assessed and plans were in place to manage these. Missing persons profiles were used to determine what action needed to be taken, but these lacked some key information that the police would ask for, although this was available elsewhere. Equipment was checked regularly but systems to monitor this were insufficient.

There were systems in place to make sure the environment was safe and that people’s welfare was checked. People received their medicines safely and there were regular checks carried out of medicines and finances.

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 had consented to their care. When people did not have the capacity to make bigger decisions for themselves the provider worked with the local authority to make plans in their best interests.

There were enough staff available and staffing was planned to meet people’s day to day needs. The service was working to reduce its dependency on agency staff and recruit more full time care workers.

Managers had a good understanding of people’s needs. There were systems in place to maintain good communication and ensure everyone understood their duties. The provider carried out regular audits to make sure the quality of people’s care remained good.

Rating at last inspection:

This was our first inspection since the service was registered on 20 July 2018. Under their previous registration the service was rated ‘good’.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection.

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