Callin Court is an Extra Care Housing service for people aged 55 and over. 50 self-contained apartments are occupied under an agreement which gives exclusive possession of a home with its own front door. The property is designed to enable and facilitate the delivery of personal care and support to people, now or when they need it in the future. The personal care service can be provided by the staff based at the site and there are staff based at the scheme 24/7 who can deliver care in an emergency. There are a number of communal facilities, including a restaurant, lounge and gardens where people can choose to meet and relax.

Our last visit on 19 December 2014 identified that improvement was needed in person centred care planning. Because of this, we rated the responsive domain as ‘requires improvement’. Despite this, the rating for the service had been assessed as good overall. This inspection identified that improvements had been made. The service met the all the relevant fundamental standards and the rating remains Good.

Improvements had been made to ensure that records better reflected and identified the needs, wishes and preferences of individuals. People received care that was personalised. Medicines were sometimes administered by staff and in these instances people received their medicines as prescribed.

People said the support from staff was “Second to none” and they were treated with dignity, respect and kindness. People continued to receive their care from a consistent group of staff who knew them well and met all their physical, emotional, spiritual and social needs. People were supported by the staff to participate in social activities or to have meals together.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

There were processes in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service to ensure that all shortfalls were identified and acted upon. The registered provider had sent a quality questionnaires to everyone who received a service and positive feedback had been received. Meetings were held monthly with people who used the service to seek their opinion and keep them informed of any proposed changes. People knew how to make a complaint and were confident in this being responded to.

Safe recruitment procedures were followed and staff had the relevant checks from the Disclosure and Barring Service. Staff had received, or had planned, supervision and appraisal. People had received training and direct observations to ensure that they were skilled and competent. The policies and procedures to support staff in their work had been updated and were accessible for on-going guidance.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

We undertook an unannounced inspection of Callin Court on 9 December 2014. We did not tell the provider that we would be coming.

Callin Court is an extra care housing service for people aged 55 and over. There are 50 self-contained apartments where tenants may be visited at agreed times to support them with personal care tasks. There are a number of communal areas, including a restaurant, lounge and gardens where people can choose to meet and relax. At the time of our inspection 37 people were receiving a personal care service. 21 people were funding their own care through direct payments and 16 people had their care purchased by the local authority.

At our last inspection in July 2013 the service was meeting the regulations inspected.

People were kept safe and free from harm. There were appropriate numbers of staff employed to meet people’s needs and provide a flexible service. Staff were able to accommodate last minute changes to appointments as requested by the person who used the service or their relatives.

Staff received regular training and were knowledgeable about their roles and responsibilities. They had the skills, knowledge and experience required to support people with their care and support needs.

People told us they liked the staff. Staff knew the people they were supporting and provided a personalised service. People were involved in making decisions about their care. Care plans were in place detailing how people wished to be supported, but these weren’t always up to date. Although the staff on duty were aware of people’s current support needs, this could have put people at risk of inappropriate care if there were staff on duty who were less familiar with people’s needs, such as new staff. The registered manager had already identified this during quality audits and had asked a senior member of staff to update them as soon as possible.

The service has a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The registered manager was accessible and approachable. Staff, people who used the service and relatives felt able to speak with the manager and provide feedback on the service. The registered manager carried out regular audits to review the quality of the service provided.

People told us staff always consulted them about their individual needs and involved them in decisions about their care. All said they received the help they needed and that they were given good support to be as independent as possible. People commented: "They're very good to me"; "I'm very happy with the service"; "I've been consulted about my care plan and I get the right amount of care I need".

People who used the service were very complimentary about the staff. They said the staff were "always pleasant" and "very caring". One person said "They're good. They always make sure I've got my jewellery on, which is important to me".

People also told us that they really appreciated having their own flat but also having areas where they could mix with other tenants to have a meal or join in with activities and trips out, which stopped them feeling lonely. On the afternoon of our inspection tenants were enjoying a strawberry tea provided by volunteers. People sat chatting in the dining room, lounge and garden.

We looked at the recruitment arrangements and the support provided to staff. There were proper procedures in place to make sure that staff were fit to look after vulnerable people and staff were well trained and supported to carry out their role.

There were systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service and records were well maintained.

We spoke with seven people who used the service. They told us that staff were kind and caring and that they were given good support to be as independent as possible. People commented "I don't have any concerns", "The staff are lovely" and "The staff are brilliant."

We spoke with three staff members on duty at the time of our visit. They all confirmed they liked working at Callin Court. They said that the training they received was good and that staff meetings were held regularly and they had the opportunity to be involved in these. Other comments included "The staff team are friendly", "We all work well together", "The manager is very good" and "The senior team work well together and help out the support staff."

We spoke with five people who were receiving a service. All said they had been asked what their needs were before they moved into Callin Court and the manager had discussed with them the care the service could provide. One person told us that they were staying at Callin Court on a trial basis for two weeks to see whether it suited their needs, and said “It’s excellent, nothing has happened yet to put me off and I hope I can stay”.

People told us staff always consulted them about their individual needs and involved them in decisions about their care and treatment. All the people we spoke with said they received the help they needed. Comments included "It’s great”; "I’m very pleased with it”; “The care is very good”.

People said they could do as they pleased and that there were no restrictions.

They also told us that they really appreciated having their own flat but also having areas where they could mix with other tenants to have a meal or join in with activities and trips out, which stopped them feeling lonely.

We asked people if they would know how to raise a concern about something that was worrying them. They expressed confidence that if they had a problem they would be able to discuss it with the registered manager and that it would be taken seriously.

People were also very complimentary about the staff and said that their needs were able to be met by the number of staff available. Comments included “The staff are lovely”; “The staff are very good”; “The staff are very friendly and encourage you to join in”; “If you pull the cord for help, someone comes straightaway, even at night”.