About the service:

Radis Community Care (Poppyfields) is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own flats within an extra care housing scheme. It provides a service to older people. There were 15 people receiving a personal care service at the time of our inspection.

People’s experience of using this service:

People told us they continued to feel safe. Risks in relation to people’s health, safety and welfare had been identified and action taken where appropriate. Enough staff were employed to meet the needs of the people they provided a service to. Medicines were safely managed. There were systems in place to monitor incidents and accidents and learn from these.

Staff were skilled and competent and knew the people they supported well. People’s care, health and cultural needs were identified so staff could meet these. People were supported to maintain good health. Staff made referrals to health professionals when required. Staff worked within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and ensured people consented to their care.

People continued to receive care from staff who were kind and caring. People’s privacy and dignity was protected and promoted. People had developed positive relationships with staff who had a good understanding of their needs and preferences.

People received person centred care that met their needs. Care plans gave details of how people would like their needs met. People said they knew how to make a complaint if needed.

People and staff told us the service was well managed and had an open and friendly culture. Managers and staff worked in partnership with other agencies to ensure people got the care and support they needed.

Rating at last inspection:

Requires Improvement. (Previous report published April 2018)

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as scheduled in our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

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

This service 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, and is the occupant’s own home. 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.

People using Radis Community Care (Poppyfields) live in one building, called Poppyfields. There are 34 one or two-bedroom flats each with their own front door onto shared corridors, spread over three floors. There are other shared facilities such as lounges, assisted bathrooms, a hairdressing salon and a dining room where the housing provider offers people a three-course cooked lunch. Radis Community Care (Poppyfields) has an office on the ground floor, as does the manager who works for the housing provider.

Not everyone living at Poppyfields receives a service from Radis Community Care (Poppyfields). CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with the regulated activity ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where people do receive personal care we also take into account any wider social care provided.

This is the first inspection of this service since it was taken over by G P Homecare Limited in April 2017.

The inspection visits to the service’s office took place on 13 February 2018 and 14 March 2018. Both visits were announced. For the first visit we gave the service 24 hours’ notice as we needed to be sure that there would be someone in the office. As the registered manager was not available on 13 February, we arranged a second date so that we could speak with the registered manager and conclude the inspection visits. Following this we gave the new management team five days to get any further information to us.

There was a registered manager in post on 13 February 2018 but they were on leave. 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 registered manager resigned their employment with G P Homecare Limited before our second inspection visit. On 14 March 2018 we met with the area manager and a registered manager who managed two of the provider’s other extra care housing schemes.

People felt safe and were protected as far as possible by staff who were competent to recognise and report any avoidable harm or abuse. Potential risks to people had been assessed and measures put in place to minimise the risks.

There were enough staff to make sure that people were safe and their needs met in a timely manner. The provider’s recruitment process reduced the risk of unsuitable staff being employed. Staff followed the correct procedures to prevent the spread of infection and understood their responsibility to report any accidents and incidents.

Errors in recording meant that we could not be sure that people were given their medicines safely and as they had been prescribed.

Assessments of people’s needs were carried out to ensure that the service could meet those needs in the way the person preferred. Technology such as alarm call system was used to enhance the care being provided.

Staff received induction, training and support to enable them to do their job well. Further training in topics relevant to individual people’s care was needed so that staff would feel fully competent. When required, staff assisted people with their breakfast and a light evening. The housing provider supplied a three-course lunch in the dining room. Staff involved other healthcare professionals such as GPs in people’s care if the person needed as