Lloyd Court 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 from a housing association, and is the occupant’s own home. There were 40 self-contained flats on the site. 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.

At the time of this announced comprehensive inspection of 30 May 2018 there were 38 people living at the service. The provider was given 24 hours’ notice because we wanted to be certain the registered manager and key staff would be available on the day of our inspection. We also wanted to give them sufficient time to seek agreements with people so that we could visit them in their homes to find out their experience of the service.

At our last inspection on 30 September 2015, we rated the service good overall, with outstanding for the caring domain.

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.

At this inspection on 30 May 2018, the evidence collected supported a continued rating of outstanding for the caring domain, and good overall.

We received high and consistent praise in relation to this service. People and their relatives were positive and enthusiastic about the quality of the service provided. We found that people were supported to have maximum choice and control over their lives and staff worked with them in the least restrictive ways possible; with the policies and systems in place to support this practice.

Staff treated people with care and compassion, and took pride in their caring roles. Staff understood how to identify and report safeguarding concerns to keep people safe. Staff approach and people’s records demonstrated adherence to the principles of the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.

People accessed a variety of meaningful activities arranged within Lloyd Court to reduce social isolation and spent time with relatives, friends and accessing the local community.

People and their relatives knew how to make a complaint, and were encouraged to give feedback to the management team, however there had been no formal complaints in the last three years. The service provided high standards of care to people who required support with complex health needs and those approaching the end of their life.

Lloyd Court had excellent governance systems in place which enabled the service to continuously learn, improve and sustain high quality person-centred care. We received high praise from the local GP practice in relation to the collaborative approach taken by Lloyd Court staff when working with their team to ensure positive outcomes for people living at the service.

This was an announced inspection which took place on 30 September 2015.

Lloyd Court is a ‘housing with care’ service that provides personal care to people living in their own homes. The service is comprised of 40 flats, some of which are for double occupancy. At the time of this inspection the service was supporting 38 people.

There was a registered manager at Lloyd Court. 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.

We received high praise in relation to this service. People and their relatives were positive and enthusiastic about the quality of the service received. The managers and staff were motivated and committed to providing a high standard of care for people. Feedback from health professionals was also very positive. Staff worked well with health professionals and had good working relationships with them.

Systems were in place to reduce the risks as far as possible in relation to people’s safety and well-being. Where risks had been identified plans had been made and implemented to help keep people safe. Robust systems were in place to ensure that the service recruited staff that were suitable for their role.

There were adequate staffing levels to ensure people’s needs were met in a timely manner. Staff had good access to training and development opportunities and wanted to improve their knowledge in order to provide people with high quality care. They were supported with supervisions by the managers who were willing to assist staff.

Staff were knowledgeable about the people they supported and the way in which they wanted to be supported. People’s preferences and wishes were taken into account when their care was planned and care plans specific to the individual were made. Before any assistance was provided people’s consent was sought.

Staff were kind, respectful and caring. The service had won the category of ‘Effective Co-ordination in End of Life Care’ at the Norfolk Care Awards 2015.

Staff were happy and proud to be working at Lloyd Court. The registered manager had fostered an open and consultative culture within the service. Staff members worked as a team and supported each other to provide a high standard of care and support to people. The views of people using the service, their visitors, staff and health professionals were sought in order to help develop the service and ensure that people’s needs were met.

Our inspection was unannounced, which meant that no one knew that we would be visiting. There were thirty eight people living in their own flats on the day of our inspection. We spoke with eight people individually and three in a group, two visitors and eight members of staff.

We observed how people were treated and how staff interacted with them. We saw staff knocking on flat doors before entering and how they treated people respectfully. People appeared relaxed and content within their surroundings.

We saw that people were cared for effectively and that the care was planned for the individual. We saw that people were safe and that there were sufficient suitably qualified and experienced staff on duty.

The people who used the service that we met during the visit were very positive about the care and support provided. Comments included: "The staff come and help me when I ask them, and I do not wait for long." "One of the staff help me make my toast in the morning and my cup of tea." "My relative helps me with my shopping and I can do my own meals in my kitchen, as I have my own fridge."

Two visitors we spoke with told us: "All the people looking after my relative are doing an excellent job. They enjoy going along to join in at the coffee morning each day." "I wish to say I find all the staff very friendly and caring."

We spoke with nine people attending a coffee morning in a group setting and also in private.

We looked at care records, policies and procedures and spoke to several members of staff and the manager during our visit to the service.

We were told by all nine people they were comfortable with their flats and felt very well supported by the staff.

One person said, "All homes should be like this one, I have my own front door and have the benefits of meeting up with other tenants for coffee or lunch if I want company". "I don't feel lonely here."

Another person told us, "I get my paper delivered to my flat, I can go to the shop if I need supplies or they deliver, I don't need very much help from the staff but I feel happy knowing if I need more support I can ask for it". "This place is second to none, what lovely friendly staff they have working here."