Elsie Jones House is a ‘housing with care’ scheme. People live in their own flats and have tenancy agreements with the landlord. The provider, Coventry City Council, is registered to provide personal care to people who live at Elsie Jones House.

The personal care and support people require is provided at prearranged times by a team of staff who work at the scheme. There were 23 people living at Elsie Jones House at the time of our inspection visit, 21 people required assistance with personal care.

At the last inspection in August 2015 the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

The inspection took place on, 27 and 28 September 2017 and was announced. We told the provider before the visit we were coming so they could arrange for us to visit people who lived at Elsie Jones House and so they could arrange to be there.

A requirement of the provider’s registration is that they have a registered manager. There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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. The registered manager had responsibility for managing two of the provider’s ‘housing with care’ services in the Coventry area.

People continued to receive care which protected them from avoidable harm and abuse. Where people had risks associated with their care measures were in place to help reduce these risks. People who required assistance to take their prescribed medicines were supported by staff who had received training to do this safely.

There was enough staff to allocate all the visits people required and to meet people's needs safely. Recruitment checks were completed on new staff to ensure they were suitable to support people who used the service. Staff had regular checks on their practice to make sure they continued to support people safely.

People were provided with care which continued to be effective in meeting their individual needs. Staff received regular training that provided them with the skills and knowledge to support people’s needs. The registered manager and staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA). Staff respected people’s decisions and gained people’s consent before they provided personal care. When needed, arrangements were in place to support people to have enough to eat and drink and remain in good health.

People were visited by a team of regular staff that they knew and who they said were kind, caring and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff arrived around the time arranged and stayed long enough to do everything that was needed without having to rush. People said the support they received helped them to live independently in their own home.

The service remained responsive to people’s needs and wishes. People were provided with care and support which was individual to them. Managers and staff had a good understanding of people’s individual needs and preferences. People’s care and support needs were kept under review and staff responded when there were changes in these needs. People knew how to raise concerns and were confident these would be responded to.

The service was well led. Management and staff told us there was good team work and that all staff worked well together. Staff said they received good support from the management team and that senior staff were always available to give advice. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities and had regular supervision and observations of their practice to make sure they carried these out safely. There continued to be effective and responsive processes for assessing and monitoring the quality of the service provided.

We undertook an announced visit to Elsie Jones House on 14 August 2015. We told the provider before our visit that we would be coming. This was so people could give consent for us to visit them in their flats to talk with them.

Elsie Jones House provides housing with care. People live in their own home and receive personal care and support from staff at pre-arranged times and in emergencies. At the time of our visit 25 people received personal care from the service.

The service had 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People felt safe living at Elsie Jones House. Support workers were trained in safeguarding adults and understood how to protect people from abuse. There were processes to minimise risks associated with people’s care to keep them safe. This included the completion of risk assessments, recruitment checks to ensure support workers suitability to work with people who used the service, and procedures for managing people’s medicines safely.

The registered manager and deputy manager understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA), and support workers gained people’s consent before they provided personal care. People were supported to maintain their independence and to live their lives as they chose. People were happy with the care they received and said support workers treated them with respect and maintained their privacy when providing support.

There were enough suitably trained support workers who had the right skills and experience to provide the support people required. People received consistent support from workers who knew them well. The service was based on people’s personal needs and preferences.

Care plans and risk assessments contained relevant information for support workers to help them provide the personalised care people required. People were involved in making decisions about their care and were able to share their views and opinions about the service they received.

People knew how to complain and information about making a complaint was available for people. People said they were confident about raising complaints and knew who to contact if they had any concerns. Staff said they could raise any concerns or issues with the managers, knowing they would be listened to and acted upon.

There were processes to monitor the quality of the service provided and to understand the experiences of people who used the service. This was through communication with people and support workers, checks on care records and medication records, returned surveys and a programme of checks and audits.

Elsie Jones House provides housing with care. People live in their own flats and staff provide support at pre- arranged times. There were 16 people receiving a personal care service on the day of our visit. During our visit we spoke with four people who used the service, a relative, the manager, the assistant manager and two members of staff.

People told us they were fully involved in their care and support. We were told people’s preferences and choices had been discussed with them and staff provided support in the way they liked. People told us the service was responsive to their needs. We were told, “You just need to mention something and they would do it for you.”

People we spoke with said their care workers were respectful and caring. One person told us, “The staff are all very good. I have no hesitation saying that, they treat me with the utmost respect.”

We saw people’s care needs had been assessed and were regularly reviewed to make sure people received the care they required. Risks associated with people’s care had been identified and were managed appropriately by the service. The care plans we looked at provided staff with sufficient information about the care and support people required to meet their needs and maintain their safety.

People said there was a small staff team that provided their care. People told us their care was provided around the same time each day. We looked at how calls to people were allocated to care workers. We found there were sufficient care workers to provide the care and support people required.

Care staff we spoke with knew what to do to keep people safe and how to respond to allegations or suspicions of abuse. People we spoke with had no concerns about the care they received and knew who to talk to if they were unhappy with the service.

Records showed the agency had systems in place to monitor the care provided. Everyone we spoke with told us they were satisfied with the care they received. One person said, “The staff are good fun and look after me well.”

Elsie Jones House provides domiciliary care to people living within the complex. People who used the service received varying levels of personal care and support. Some people required well being checks and others received a higher level of support and care.

We visited the service on 26 February 2013. There were 27 people using the service the day we visited. During our visit we spoke with four people who used the service, the manager and four members of staff.

We looked at the care records of three people. We were satisfied people were receiving the care they had consented to. People generally spoke positively about the care provided. One person told us, "The staff are brilliant." Another said, " The staff are really nice and friendly, well most of them.”

Care plans provided staff with sufficient information about the individual support needs of people and how staff were to provide support safely.

We looked at medication management. We found people received their medication at the times prescribed. Records confirmed staff completed medication training and were competent to give medicines safely.

We found there were processes in place to safely recruit staff and provide staff with the training and support to meet the care needs of people.

We looked at the complaints policy and procedure. This gave people clear information about how to make a complaint. All the people we spoke with told us they would speak to someone if they had any complaints.

We carried out this review to check on the care and welfare of people using this service.

People we spoke with said that they were consulted about the care provided and were involved in decisions about their care.

People told us that the agency had carried out an assessment before the service started and that they had a copy of the care and support plan in their home. Support plans we looked at showed staff had the information they needed to provide the care support required. Staff we spoke with confirmed that plans are kept up to date.

The people we spoke with said that they had regular carers. People told us carers did everything they needed and that staff take their time and do not rush. One person said "The girls are busy but they never rush me.”

People told us they were happy with the support they received and that it made a difference to their everyday living. One relative told us, “It’s lovely here, Mum is treated really well, all the staff are great it’s like one big family.”

People told us that they were treated with respect and that care staff maintained their privacy and dignity. The staff we spoke with showed a good understanding of peoples' support needs.

People we spoke with were confident that they could raise concerns if they were not happy with the care being received and that they would be listened to. Staff we spoke with knew what they would do to keep people safe.