Box Tree Court

Updated 28 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 two inspectors, a specialist advisor in medicines 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 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.

Registered Manager

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 not a registered manager in post, however an application to register with CQC was in-progress.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority and health care professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

During the inspection we spoke with the location manager, another extra care manager, the quality assurance lead, the regional operations manager and four staff members. We also spoke with the housing manager, who was responsible for oversight of the extra care premises. We spoke with two relatives and three people who used the service. We looked at five people’s care files and multiple people’s medicines records.

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.

Updated 28 April 2022

About the service

Box Tree Court is an extra care housing service in Boston Spa, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, which offers independent living with access to on-site care for people over the age of 55, with 44 apartments available for rent and shared ownership.

The court was designed to provide fully accessible facilities for both residents and visitors, including a café/bistro and hair salon for use by the community. There is also a residents’ lounge, activity room, treatment room and communal gardens for residents and their guests to enjoy.

At the time of our inspection there were 15 people receiving the regulated activity of 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

Some improvements were needed to ensure medicines were consistently managed safely. The provider responded immediately during and after the inspection and took decisive action to rectify the issues we identified. This gave us reassurance medicines would now be safely managed.

Staff had an 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; 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.

Systems were in place to recruit staff safely. Staff were competent and had the skills and knowledge to enable them to support people effectively. Staff received the training and support they needed to carry out their roles effectively and received regular feedback; staff we spoke with confirmed this.

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.

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 desired outcomes. People and their relatives were complimentary about the staff and their caring attitude.

People knew how to make a complaint and there was an effective complaints process in place. The 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. The provider and manager followed governance systems which provided oversight and monitoring of 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 and update

This service was registered with us on 3 November 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

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