Radis Community Care (Dorothy Terry House)

Updated 30 April 2022

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Radis Community Care (Dorothy Terry House 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.

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 28 March 2022 and ended on 30 March 2022. We visited the location’s service on 28 March 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service for example; notifications. Which contain information about important events the service is required to send us by law.

We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people that used the service, five care staff, the registered manager and the area manager. We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records, medicine records, and records relating to the quality assurance of the service, including audits and training records.

Updated 30 April 2022

About the service

Radis Community Care (Dorothy Terry House) is an extra care service providing personal care to people who live in their own flats in one adapted building. The building is owned by a housing agency and Radis Community Care are commissioned to provide personal care to the people living there. At the time of our inspection there were 19 people receiving the regulated activity of personal care. Support was individually tailored to people’s assessed needs with the aim to help people to maintain independent lives and remain in their homes.

Not everyone using Radis Community Care (Dorothy Terry House) receives the regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

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

People’s care and support was person-centred and reflected people’s preferences. Staff provided care that was respectful of people’s dignity, privacy and human rights. 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 were protected from the risks of COVID-19 by effective infection control procedures. Staff had training in relation to COVID-19 and had access to sufficient supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE). The registered manager and provider ensured that infection control procedures reflected current government guidance.

Staff had the training, skills and knowledge to meet people’s needs and preferences. Staff told us that they felt supported in their roles and where additional training or support was identified as being needed this was provided. There was regular involvement from health and social care professionals. People and professionals spoke positively about the care and support that staff provided.

Staff told us that the management of the service had improved. The registered manager told us about their aspirations for the service to be a leading service in the area. People spoke positively about the changes that had taken place since the registered manager had started. There were comprehensive systems of governance and oversight.

People’s care plans were personalised and reflected people’s own individualities and interests as well as their specific health needs. Work was underway by the registered manager and activities co-ordinator to review people’s personal histories and improve how they reflected people’s life stories.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for the service under the previous provider was good, published on 24 July 2015.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

This was the first inspection for this service under the current provider.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.