Background to this inspection
Updated
23 November 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
The inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type
119 Little Lane 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 or 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. Shortly before this inspection, the registered manager had applied to de-register from this location to take up other duties and the service leader had submitted a timely registered manager application to CQC, which had been validated.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we wanted to review documentation remotely and make arrangements, where possible, to speak with people, relatives and staff by telephone after our site visit. This helped minimise the time we spent in face to face contact with the staff and people who used the service.
Inspection activity started on 15 October 2021 and ended on 20 October 2021. We visited the location on 15 and 19 October.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since registering with CQC. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection
During the inspection-
We spoke with three relatives and one person about their experiences of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the service leader, the head of operations (North West) and three support workers. We also spoke with the housing scheme manager.
We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and 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. We looked at training data, service evaluation information and quality assurance records. We received additional feedback from the local authority.
Updated
23 November 2021
About the service
119 Little Lane is an extra care housing scheme for people aged 55 and over, comprising of 39 individual flats and several communal areas in one large building, within landscaped gardens. People who lived at the service had a separate care and tenancy agreement. At the time of our inspection, the service supported six people with personal care.
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
Staff had awareness of safeguarding and knew how to raise concerns. Steps were taken to minimise risks where possible. Risks to people's health and well-being were identified and monitored. Guidance was in place for staff on how to support people with these risks.
People’s needs were comprehensively assessed before starting to use the service; people and their relatives had been involved in the care planning process. Staff had developed supportive relationships with people and knew them well; people received person-centred care as a result. Staff supported people to access healthcare professionals when required and supported people to manage their medicines safely.
Staff were competent and had the skills and knowledge to enable them to support people safely and effectively. Staff received the training and support they needed to carry out their roles effectively and received regular supervisions, competency checks and appraisals; staff we spoke with confirmed this. Systems were in place to recruit staff safely.
Staff promoted people's independence and treated them with dignity and respect. People were involved in making decisions about their care and involved in reviews to ensure their care plans met their needs and supported them to achieve outcomes. Staff supported some people to access the community. People and their relatives were complimentary about the staff and their caring attitude.
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 knew how to make a complaint. There was an effective complaints process in place to deal with any complaints that might be raised in the future. The registered manager and staff were committed to providing high quality care and support for people.
The service had an open and supportive culture. Systems were in place to monitor the quality and safety of care delivered. There was evidence of improvement and learning from any actions identified.
The provider and manager followed governance systems which provided effective oversight and monitoring of the service. These governance systems and processes were robust and identified areas of the service where improvements were needed.
A range of audits were done to ensure the support provided to people was safe and effective and to drive improvements in the service.
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 29 June 2019 and this is the first inspection to provide an overall rating. The last rating for this service was Inspected but not rated (published 20 November 2020); this was a planned focussed inspection in line with our inspection programme due to COVID-19. We do not look at all the five key questions during a focussed inspection. During the inspection we looked at two key areas of safe and well-led. Therefore, the service was not given an overall rating.
Why we inspected
This service was registered with us on 29 June 2019 and this is the first inspection to provide an overall rating.
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.