We undertook an announced inspection of Care and Support Services - Cote Lane on 3 and 5 October 2017. When the service was last inspected in June 2015, there were no breaches.

Care and Support Service - Cote Lane provides personal care to people living within private accommodation within the provider’s Cote Lane retirement community site. All people who receive personal care from this service live within privately owned or privately rented apartments. All of the people at the service have 24-hour access to staff in the event of an emergency. Calls can range from 15 minutes to six calls a day.

At the time of the inspection, there were a total of 186 people living within the 179 apartments and the registered manager was responsible for the wellbeing of all of these people. Their role was called a retirement community manager. They were supported by the care and support team, a chaplain and the community engagement co-ordinator and a group of volunteers. The volunteers assisted people during coffee mornings and various social events.

People who live within the retirement community have access to facilities such as a theatre/cinema, a chapel, swimming pool, gym, physiotherapy suite, a small shop and hairdressing salon as well as two restaurants. At the time of our inspection, the service was providing personal care to 48 of the 186 people.

The registered manager had resigned the week prior to the inspection. A new manager had commenced in post and was in the process of registering with us. They were available on both days of the inspection. 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the home is run.

At the last inspection, the service was rated Good. At this inspection, we found the service remained Good.

Why the service is rated good:

Staff had a good understanding of safeguarding and knew what to do if they were concerned about the welfare of people or an allegation of abuse had been made. Any safeguarding concerns were investigated with the outcomes fed back and practices changed if necessary in order to prevent reoccurrences. People had risk assessments to keep them safe whilst receiving personal care. This included environmental risk assessments. People told us they felt safe whilst being supported by staff. Staff were recruited in a safe and consistent manner.

Medicines were managed safely with people receiving their medicines appropriately. Regular medicine audits were being carried out. Where errors had taken place, appropriate action had been taken to protect people, including additional training and observations of staff practice. Improvements were being made to ensure the records included more details about the medicines held in people’s dossette boxes.

There was sufficient staff to meet people’s individual needs. People told us staff turned up on time and stayed for the full duration of the visit. Staffing was planned flexibly to meet people’s individual needs. Staffing was in place 24 hours in the event of an emergency or a person requiring support at night. At the time of the inspection, no one was receiving planned care at night.

People had access to a range of health professionals when required. Some people looked after their own health care appointments. People’s nutritional needs were being met.

People had their needs assessed and clear plans of care were in place about how the person wanted to be supported. These were personalised and up to date. People were very much involved in their care. There was an emphasis on encouraging people to be independent as possible enabling them to live independently in their own apartments. People felt confident that their care needs would be met and gave very positive feedback about the sta

We undertook an announced inspection of Care and Support Services – Cote Lane on Tuesday 9 June 2015. When the service was last inspected in September 2014 there were no breaches of the legal requirements identified.

Care and Support Service - Cote Lane provides personal care to people living within private accommodation within the provider’s Cote Lane retirement community site. All people who receive personal care from this service live within privately owned or privately rented apartments. All of the people at the service have 24 hour access to staff in the event of an emergency. People who live within the retirement community have access to facilities such as a cinema, a chapel, swimming pool, gym, physiotherapy suite, a small shop and hairdressing salon as well as several restaurants and dining areas. At the time of our inspection the service was providing personal care to 43 people.

A registered manager was in post at the time of inspection. 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People felt confident that their care needs would be met and gave very positive feedback about the staff that supported them. People told us their care appointments were completed by staff as required. Staff knew how to identify and respond to suspected abuse and the provider had appropriate policies to guide and support staff.

There were sufficient staff on duty to meet the needs of people who required support. There were processes in place to ensure that staff recruitment was safe and completed in accordance with requirements. People received the support they required with their medicines. There were auditing systems to monitor if people’s medicines were given to them when they needed them and to ensure medicines records were accurately completed.

People told us they received care and support from well trained and competent staff. Staff received regular training to support the people effectively and the provider had implemented a system that ensured refresher training was completed. Staff had the opportunity to complete nationally recognised health and social care training and were supported through regular supervision and appraisal.

Staff understood the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and gave examples of how they encouraged and empowered people to make decisions. People were aware they could summon staff support to arrange or accompany them to an appointment with a healthcare professional.

People’s care needs were reviewed and we saw evidence the service had been responsive when a change in a person’s needs had been identified. People told us they had excellent relationships with the staff and we received very positive comments. People were involved in making decisions about their care and told us that the care they received was in line with their needs and preferences.

People felt the service was responsive and gave examples of when the service had been responsive to their changing care needs through the short term increase in care and support. The compliments log at the service demonstrated a high level of satisfaction from people. There was a complaints procedure and complaints had been responded to in accordance with this procedure.

People understood who the registered manager was and told us they were friendly and approachable. Staff spoke highly of the management and told us there was a good team ethos which reflected positively on care provision. There were systems that monitored the quality of service provided to people and staff views were obtained. The registered manager was well supported by the provider.

Is the service safe?

Our inspection of 21 January 2014 found that not all aspects of the service were safe.

People were not fully protected against the risks associated with medicines. We found recording errors on people’s medicine administration records that meant it was unclear if people had taken their medicines or not. The provider wrote to us on 20 February 2014 and told us how they would achieve compliance with the regulation.

During this inspection, we found that improvements had been made. The provider had ensured that people’s medicine administration records were accurate and reflected the actions taken by staff.

We spoke with three people who all told us that they received the support that they needed. They told us that they had been asked for their views about their care and about the service that was provided and that the staff always listened. One person told us that they could ask for extra support and this would be provided. All the people and two relatives said that they would discuss any issues or concerns with the manager or deputy and they were confident that these would be addressed.

People told us that they had been involved in developing their care plans and that they had consented to the care and support provided. There were suitable arrangements to manage medication to keep people safe but some attention was needed to the recording of medication. Two people told us that they could manage their own medication.

The staff had had recruitment checks before they were employed to make sure that they were suitable to work with people. They also had provided information about their qualifications and experience to show that they had the skills to work with people. Staff received more training to keep their qualifications and skills up-to-date. Three people told us that the staff had the right skills and experience to meet their needs. One person said staff ‘know what they are doing.’

There were arrangements to monitor the quality of the service provided and people were asked their views about service. There are also arrangements to make sure that risks were managed and people were kept safe.

We spoke with four people who received a service from the care and support service at Cote lane. All the people we spoke with were very positive about the service they received. People we spoke with made the following comments about the service: “The service is magnificent, you can build your own package of support to meet your needs”

During our visit we saw care staff interacting with people in a positive and encouraging way.

People’s needs were assessed before they started to receive a service. Care plans we viewed gave clear guidance to staff on how the person liked that support to be provided. Staff we spoke with told us that the care plans were clear and that they were up to date.

People we spoke with told us that they liked the care staff and felt safe.

We spoke with five members of staff who were clear on the different types of abuse that they could come across. They explained to us the actions that they would take if they suspected abuse.

Staff we spoke with told us that they felt well supported in their roles. They said that the management were very approachable and supportive.

The service consulted regularly with staff, people who used the service and their relatives about the quality of the service. We saw evidence that the service took account of this feedback used it to improve the service.