Miners Court Extra Care provides accommodation and support to up to 64 people on a purpose built site. People live in their own self-contained flats. Numerous communal facilities are provided including a café, hair salon and lounge areas.

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 experience of the personal care provided by the service. At the time of our inspection 50 people living at the Miners Court were receiving personal care.

This unannounced comprehensive inspection was completed on the 5 April 2018 by one inspector and one expert by experience.

The service did not have a registered manager at the time of our inspection. However, an acting manager had been appointed and was in the process of applying for registration. 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.

The acting manager had been appointed prior to the registered managers departure and there had been an effective handover of responsibilities. The acting manager was supernumerary and supported by two deputy managers who were also not routinely allocated care shifts This meant staff had access to management support every day and we saw there was open and effective communication between staff and managers. Staff said they felt well supported and commented, “The new manager is brilliant. She has a really caring nature” and “I have never had a manager that has been so approachable. They sort things out straight away.”

The acting manager received regular supervision and support from the providers theme Leadwho visited the service regularly. There were effective systems in place to support the manager and staff outside of office hours and the acting manager told us, “The support is fantastic” and “[Senior management] are always on the end of the phone if I need them, even at weekends.”

People were relaxed and comfortable in the service and consistently complementary of the care and support they received. People’s comments included, "The staff give me all the care I need", "The best thing I did was come here" and "I love it here." Staff enjoyed the company of the people they supported and actively sought additional opportunities to interact with people. Staff told us, “I adore it here, we have lovely clients. All different with different needs” and “I get a lot of enjoyment out of working here.” We saw staff dancing and laughing with people in communal areas and it was clear staff knew people well and understood their individual likes and preferences.

Staff had received safeguarding training and understood their responsibilities in relation to protecting people from abuse, harm and all forms of discrimination. Staff told us they would report any concerns to their managers who they were confident would take any action necessary to ensure people’s safety.

Staff had the skills necessary to meet people’s needs and their training had been regularly updated and refreshed. Staff told us, “You have a lot of training and it is constantly updated” and “You do shadowing for a while, then someone shadows you, then you are released.” All new staff completed training in accordance with the care certificate and shadowed more experienced staff before providing support independently. Staff records showed all necessary pre-employment checks had been completed.

Staff were well motivated and worked effectively with their managers to ensure people’s needs were met. Staff spoke positively of the acting manager's approach and commented, “The new manager is brilliant. She has a really caring nature” and “I really like our manager actually. I have never had a

We inspected Miners court extra care on 08 January 2016, the inspection was unannounced. The service was previously inspected on the 23 January 2014 when it was fully compliant with the regulations. The inspection team consisted of a single inspector.

Miners Court Extra Care is a supported living service that provides personal care to people living in the service’s 62 flats. A supported living service is one where people live in their own home and receive care and support to enable their independent living. People have tenancy agreements with a landlord and receive their care and support from a domiciliary care agency.

On the day of our inspection the service was supporting 47 people with personal care. People received short care visits at key times of the day to help them get up in the morning, go to bed at night and to give support with meal preparation or medicines.

There was 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. However, the registered manager had been on leave for an extended period before our inspection. The provider had made arrangements to ensure the service was appropriately lead during the registered manager’s absence. Staff told us they had been well supported during this period and commented; “We have had three temporary managers but they have all been great and had minimal disruption to the service. I think it was well handled and we were never without someone here” and “The manager had made lots of very subtle positive changes.”

People were comfortable and relaxed at Miners Court Extra Care. We saw people enjoyed the company of their staff who they approached for support and conversation without hesitation. People enjoyed spending time in the service’s reception area and communal lounges chatting to staff and other people.

Everyone told us they felt safe and well looked after at Miners Court Extra Care. People's comments included, “The staff are all nice people, I feel safe with them”, “They are absolutely wonderful” and, “It’s heavenly here.”

While staff told us, “Morale is generally pretty good, it’s a good team to be part of”, “I don’t think I could find somewhere better to work, the mix of residents and staff is great.”

People’s visits were provided on time and there were sufficient staff available to provide all planned care visits. Staff told us, “we have not had any agency staff recently, we have four bank staff who come in when we need them.” We found the service’s senior carers were not routinely scheduled to provide care visits but instead provide cover during periods of staff leave or illness. People told us, “They come at the same time each day” and, “They are normally on time. Sometimes they are a bit late when [other] people need more help but I don’t mind that.” Daily care records showed staff normally arrived on time and provided care visits of the planned length.

A wireless life line system was available throughout the service to enable people to summon help from staff when required. Everyone told us staff responded promptly to request for support and one person said, “When you press your button it is amazing how quickly someone comes.”

Training records showed staff had been provided with all the necessary training which had been refreshed regularly. Staff told us; “All my training is up to date” and, “The training is pretty good.” In addition staff told us they were well supported, and records showed regular supervision and spot checks on staff performance had been completed. People told us they were regularly asked by managers for feedback on the performance of individual members of staff.

The service’s systems for the induction of new members of sta