Archived: Chestnut Court

Chestnut Court provides personal care and support to people living in their own flats in one of three extra care housing schemes; Chestnut Court, Beechwood Court and Brockhill. The service supports people with a wide range of needs including dementia, physical disability, learning disability and/or autism, sensory impairment and mental health conditions. The service was supporting 70 people at the time of our inspection, 60 of whom received personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating.

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

People received a safe and reliable service. The consistency of some people’s care had been affected by the use of agency staff, although the provider had minimised the impact of this by using regular agency staff wherever possible. The provider operated robust recruitment procedures, which helped ensure only suitable staff were employed.

Staff understood their responsibilities in protecting people from the risk of abuse and knew how to report any concerns they had. Risk assessments were carried out to identify and manage any risks to people who used the service and staff. These were reviewed regularly to take account of any changes in people’s circumstances.

Records of accidents and incidents were reviewed to ensure learning was taken from adverse events. People’s medicines were managed safely. Any errors that occurred were investigated and action taken to address them.

All but one of the relatives we heard from told us staff wore appropriate PPE when they visited their family members. One relative said a member of staff had not worn appropriate PPE when they visited. The registered manager addressed this issue when we informed them about it.

Staff received the induction, training and support they needed to do their jobs. This included training specific to people’s needs in addition to mandatory training and regular one-to-one supervision with their line managers.

People who received support with meals could choose whether to have their meals delivered from the on-site restaurant or to have their meals prepared by staff in their own kitchens. People with specific dietary needs had been assessed by a speech and language therapist (SaLT) to ensure their meals were prepared safely.

People’s needs were assessed before they began to use the service. Assessments considered people’s needs holistically, including what they could do for themselves and how they preferred their care to be provided. A personalised care plan was developed from the initial assessment which contained details for staff about how people’s care should be provided.

Staff supported people to access healthcare services when they needed them. This included helping people make appointments and liaising with healthcare professionals if necessary.

All but one of the relatives who provided feedback told us staff respected their family member’s preferences about their care. One relative told us a member of staff had sometimes made their family member feel rushed when supporting them. The registered manager addressed this issue when we informed them about it.

People told us they got on well with their care workers and had established positive relationships with them. Professionals provided positive feedback about the caring nature of staff.

People and relatives who had made a complaint were happy with the provider’s response and the action taken to resolve their concerns. Any complaints received had been managed in line with the provider’s complaints procedure.

The provider had developed effective systems to monitor the quality and safety of the service, including spot checks, audits and regular monitoring of key aspects of the service. Quality monitoring systems also included seeking the views of people who used the service, their relatives and staff.

The registered manager and staff had established effective working relationships with other agencies and professionals involved in people’s care, including commissioners, care managers and healthcare professionals such as district nurses.

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.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right Support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture

Right support:

• The model of care maximised people’s choice, control and independence. People lived in their own flats and could choose how they spent their time.

Right care:

• People’s care was person-centred and promoted their privacy, dignity and human rights. People received support that reflected their individual needs and preferences.

Right culture:

• The values and behaviours of managers and care staff ensured people were included and empowered. People were encouraged to give feedback about their care and their views were listened to.

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 10 June 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the date of the service’s registration.

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.