About the service:

Housing & Care 21 - Linskill Park is an extra-care scheme. The building had 63 two-bedroomed apartments and bungalows. At the time of this inspection, 44 older people received care and support.

People's experience of using this service:

The service was safe. Risks people faced were reduced as much as possible. Staff could recognise the signs of abuse and they reported any concerns in line with safeguarding policies and procedures.

Good communication and collaborative work with external professionals ensured people achieved positive outcomes.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and were supported in the least restrictive way possible. Staff encouraged people to maintain or regain their independence.

People were well cared for in the comfort of their own homes. Staff knew people very well and they treated people with kindness, patience, dignity and respect.

The service was flexible and provision could easily be changed and adapted to meet people's needs and choices.

Staff supported people to arrange activities and maintain links with their local community. This provided opportunity for social interaction with family, friends and neighbours.

The leadership, management and governance of the service ensured the delivery of high-quality and person-centred care. The registered manager strived to achieve the highest of standards through continuous improvement and developments. The quality and safety of the service was closely monitored through regular checks and audits.

The service continued to meet the characteristics for a rating of good. Therefore, the overall rating for the service after this inspection remained good.

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

Rating at last inspection:

At our last inspection the service was rated good (published 6 August 2016).

Why we inspected:

This inspection was part of our scheduled plan of visiting services to check the safety and quality of care people received based on the last rating.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people receive safe, compassionate, high quality care. Further inspections will be planned for future dates in line with our inspection programme.

The announced inspection took place on 21 and 22 June 2016. This was the first inspection since the service registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on 8 December 2014.

Housing & Care 21 – Linskill Park is an extra care service consisting of 64 individual apartments and five separate bungalows within the same complex. There is an office base and care staff provide people with a range of services including; personal care, medicines management, shopping and domestic services. Not everyone in the building receives services from the provider and not all services are regulated by the CQC. At the time of the inspection 40 people lived independently and received care and support from the provider, with other people receiving support from other providers or none at all.

The service had a registered manager in post. 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 who used the service and those supporting them knew who to report any concerns to if they felt they or others had been the victim of abuse. Staff had received training in safeguarding and knew about whistleblowing procedures.

There were suitable medicines procedures in place to support staff. Staff we spoke with told us they were trained and felt confident in administering people’s medicines safely and people told us they received their medicines on time and as prescribed.

Risks to people's health and safety were managed and detailed plans were in place to enable staff to support people safely. Accidents and incidents were investigated and monitored for any trends forming.

There were enough staff with the right skills training and experience to meet people's needs, and although holidays and sickness affected staffing rota’s, this was managed well with attention given to minimise the impact to people through consistency of staff as much as possible. Staff supervisions were not all up to date, although the registered manager was working to rectify this.

People told us they felt confident that should concerns be raised, these would be dealt with appropriately. People told us they could contact the registered manager or staff at the service if they needed to discuss anything. People had the opportunity to talk about their opinions of the service during reviews and through meetings or surveys they completed.

Care Quality Commission (CQC) is required by law to monitor the operations of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), and to report on what we find. MCA is a law that protects and supports people who do not have the ability to make their own decisions and to ensure decisions are made in their ‘best interests’. We found the provider was complying with their legal requirements.

People were supported to be able to eat and drink satisfactory amounts to meet their nutritional and hydration needs. People received treatment when needed from a range of health care professionals which helped to promote their health and well-being.

People were treated with kindness and respected by staff. Staff understood people's needs and provided care and support accordingly. Staff had a good relationship and rapport with the people they cared for. Staff supported people to be as independent as possible and they were encouraged and supported to undertake daily tasks and attend to their own personal hygiene needs where possible.

Care and support records were in the process of being updated to ensure that people’s needs were continually being met and a range of activities were available for people to participate in within the complex.

Complaints processes were in place for people and their relatives to access if they were dissatisfied with any aspect of the service provision. Any complai