St Edmunds Court is registered for, and provides, personal care for people living in their own homes in an extra care housing scheme. There were 34 people being supported with the regulated activity of personal care at the time of this inspection.

This announced inspection took place on 6 February 2017. This is the first ratings inspection at this location since Hales Group Limited became the registered provider on 06 June 2016.

The service had a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (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.

People had support and care plans in place which provided staff with guidance that they needed when providing support and care to people. These plans contained information such as how people wished to be assisted, their likes and dislikes and what was important to them. People and/or their relatives were involved in the setting up, agreement and review of their/ their family member’s plans of care.

People were supported by staff in a respectful, caring and kind manner. People’s privacy and dignity was respected by staff when entering their home and assisting them with their personal care.

Arrangements were in place to make sure that people, where needed, were supported safely with the management of their prescribed medicines by staff. There were guidelines in place for staff regarding the administration of ‘time sensitive’ medicines. Although staff had knowledge of how to support people with their increased anxiety, prior to ‘as required’ medicine being administered; detailed recorded 'step-by-step' information was not in place as guidance for staff members.

People were assisted to maintain their health and well-being and were supported to access external health care professionals where needed. People’s nutritional needs were met.

Plans were put in place to manage and minimise people’s identified risks and to support people to live as independent life as possible and remain in their own homes.

Staff understood their responsibility to report any suspicions of harm or poor care practice. Staff meetings took place and staff were encouraged to raise any suggestions or concerns that they may have had and provide feedback on any improvements to be made.

Pre-employment recruitment checks were undertaken before new staff were employed. This was to make sure that they were of a good character and suitable to work with the people they were supporting.

Documented evidence showed that there was a sufficient number of staff available to support people with the care that they required.

Staff were trained to provide effective care which met people’s individual care and support needs. Staff were supported by the registered manager to develop their skills and knowledge through supervisions, spot checks, and appraisals to review their confidence, competency and training needs.

Staff received training and understood the basic principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). This meant that there was a reduced risk that any decisions made on people's behalf by staff would be made in their best interest and be as least restrictive as possible.

The registered manager sought feedback about the quality of the service. They had in place quality monitoring checks to identify areas of improvement needed. These checks and corresponding actions were in place to identify and drive forward improvements required.

There was an ‘open’ culture within the service. People and their relatives were able to raise any concerns that they might have with staff and the registered manager. Records showed that these were responded to and resolved, where possible, to the complainants’ satisfaction.

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