We carried out a review of the data available to us about Radis Community Care (Redwood House) 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 Radis Community Care (Redwood House), you can give feedback on this service.
Radis Community Care (Redwood House) is a service which provides support to people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Not everyone using the service receives 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. Whilst the service does not provide care and support to everyone living at Redwood House, staff respond to all the residents if they activate their personal pendant alarms seeking assistance. At the time of this inspection 18 people were receiving personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The governance structure of the service had not always ensured there were robust measures to monitor quality, safety and the experience of people within the service. Recent audits, including a baseline audit by the new manager, identified that some staff supervisions, appraisals, competency assessments and care plan reviews were overdue. However, the manager had risk assessed the deficiencies and prioritised completion of the necessary work in September/October 2021. The provider has produced evidence to demonstrate this work has been completed.
The management team promoted a caring, person-centred culture where people and staff felt valued. The manager understood their responsibilities to inform people when things went wrong and the importance of conducting thorough investigations to identify lessons learnt to prevent reoccurrences. The manager had developed effective partnerships to ensure people experienced the best possible outcomes.
People experienced safe care, protected from avoidable harm by staff who had completed safeguarding training and knew how to recognise and report different types of abuse. Staff assessed risks to people, which were managed safely. There were enough staff deployed with the right mix of skills and knowledge to deliver care and support to meet people’s needs, in line with their risk assessments and support plans. Staff had completed a robust recruitment process which explored gaps in their employment history and conduct in previous care roles, to assure their suitability to support people living in their own homes. People received their prescribed medicines safely from staff who had been trained and assessed to be competent to do so, in accordance with recognised guidance. Staff demonstrated high standards of hygiene and cleanliness whilst delivering care and support.
Staff holistically assessed aspects of people’s physical, emotional and social needs and ensured these were met, to consistently achieve good outcomes for them. Staff were enabled to develop and maintain the required skills and experience to support people effectively. Staff were aware of the importance of eating and drinking well and reflected best practice when supporting people to maintain a healthy balanced diet. Staff collaborated closely with community professionals to ensure people received appropriate care and treatment to meet their changing needs. Staff supported people to make choices and worked effectively with other partners, to ensure specialist or adaptive equipment was made available to enable improved care and support.
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 experienced caring relationships with staff, who treated them with kindness and compassion in their day-to-day care. Staff supported to people to make decisions about their care and respected their choices. Staff promoted people’s independence and encouraged them to direct their own health and care support.
People received personalised care, which achieved good outcomes for them. People were provided with information in a way they could understand, allowing for any sensory impairment. People were supported to keep in touch with family and friends, which had a positive impact on their well-being. People knew how to make complaints and were confident the management team would listen and address their concerns. The service worked closely with community professionals and had sensitively explored people’s end of life care wishes.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
Due to our inspection methodology during the pandemic, the first inspection of this newly registered service only inspected the key questions of safe and well led. Although the service was not rated overall (report published 11 January 2021), we found there was a breach of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the well-led section of this full report.
Why we inspected
This was the first comprehensive inspection of Radis Community Care (Redwood House) covering all key questions since the location was added to the provider's registration in October 2019.i
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.
Radis Community Care (Redwood House) is a service which provides care and support to people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Currently, the service provides care and support to 23 people. Not everyone using the service receives 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. Whilst the service does not provide care and support to everyone living at Redwood House, staff respond to all the residents if they activate their personal pendant alarms seeking assistance.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The service was not consistently well-led. Team leaders and the registered manager were not clear how to effectively operate the provider’s quality assurance processes. Staff were unsure about the roles and responsibilities of the recently appointed team leaders and were not confident the current management team had the skills and experience needed to lead effectively. The registered manager had identified that supportive relationships amongst different factions within the staff group needed to be developed. The registered manager had devised development plans for the team leaders and had scheduled individual staff supervisions and team meetings to address the staff culture. However, professionals consistently provided positive feedback about the person-centred approach of the registered manager, whom they described as being open, honest, and receptive to their guidance. The registered manager had developed effective partnerships in healthcare working, which consistently ensured people were promptly referred to relevant health professionals when required. People were fully involved and consulted about the quality and delivery of their care.
People experienced safe care and treatment, in accordance with their care plans, which met their individual needs. Records demonstrated that people had been fully involved in developing their care plans, which ensured their preferences were consistently taken into consideration. Staff effectively identified and assessed risks to people, which they managed safely. Staff understood their responsibilities to protect people from abuse and avoidable harm. Enough staff with the required skills and knowledge provided people with safe care. People received their medicines safely, as prescribed, from staff who had completed the required training and had their competency assessed to do so. Staff followed the required standards of food safety and hygiene, when preparing, serving and handling food. Staff consistently adhered to the provider’s infection control policy and used personal protective equipment (PPE) whenever required. Staff had reassured people and family members about the reasons for staff wearing PPE.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
This service was registered with us on 03/10/2019 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
We received concerns relating to an individual subject to repeated notifications. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvement. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.
The provider had taken action to mitigate the risks to the person subject of repeat notifications and this has been effective.
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.
We have identified a breach of regulation in relation to good governance. The registered person had failed to operate systems and processes to assess and monitor the quality and safety of the service.
Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.