Updated 22 July 2021
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
This announced inspection was undertaken by one 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 bought 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 an estates manager who had applied to become registered with the Care Quality Commission, prior to the inspection. Registered managers 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 we needed to be sure that the provider or estates manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
What we did before the inspection
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 reviewed information we had received about the service since registration. We sought feedback from the local authority and commissioners who work with the service. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection-
We spoke with two people who use the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven staff members including carers, duty manager, estates manager and the area support manager. We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and one person’s medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service including policies and procedures were reviewed.
After the inspection–
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.