Care and Support Service - Westbury Fields

Updated 15 February 2020

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This consisted of two inspectors on the 18th of December 2019 and one inspector on the 19th of December 2019. An Expert by Experience was also part of the team on both days of the inspection. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of service.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in specialist 'extra care' housing. People using the service are older people, some with dementia, or mental health support needs. The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours' notice of the inspection visit because it is a specialist 'extra care' housing service staff members are often out of the office providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be available to speak with us. We also needed to ensure that people's consent was gained for us to contact them for feedback about the service.

Inspection activity started on 18 December 2019 and ended on 15 January 2020. We visited the office location on 8, 9 and 17 January 2020.

What we did

We reviewed the records held on the service. This included the Provider Information Return (PIR). Providers are required to send us key information about the service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. The information helps support our inspections. We also reviewed notifications received from the provider about incidents or accidents which they are required to send us by law. We sought feedback from the local authority and other professionals who work with the service. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We visited the service on 18 and 19 December 2019. We spoke to the registered manager, Deputy manager, senior carer, five care staff and six people receiving support from the service. An Expert by Experience made telephone calls to six people receiving support from the service and three relatives. We looked at six people's care records to see how their care was planned and delivered. Other records we looked at included five staff recruitment files, supervision files, training records, accidents and incidents, records relating to health and safety, safeguarding, complaints, medicine records, staff scheduling and the provider's audits and checks on the service.

Updated 15 February 2020

About the service:

Westbury Fields is a domiciliary care agency. This service provides care and support to people living in their own homes within Westbury Fields. Their accommodation is bought or rented and is the occupant's own home. People's care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of the inspection they were providing personal care to 50 people in their own homes.

People’s experience of using this service:

People told us they felt safe and that staff were kind, supported them in a dignified and respectful manner and maintained their privacy and independence. People received support from staff who they knew well.

People were supported by staff who promoted their independence. People received support from a consistent team of staff who were skilled and competent in providing care and support. Staff and the registered manager showed a genuine interest and passion to deliver personalised care based on people's likes, wishes and preferences.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff knew people well however some care plans contained basic information relating to people's individual support and care needs. This meant staff did not have sufficient guidance on how to support people with specific health needs such as using their oxygen.

Communication with health and social care professionals was effective in ensuring people received joined up care. The provider had aims and standards for the service and told people what they should expect from staff and the service in respect of the quality of care they received.

The provider worked in partnership with other agencies this supported people in ensuring any changes were raised with professionals and those funding the persons care needs.

Rating at last inspection:

The service was rated good at our last inspection (published 8 June 2017). No changes have been made to the rating of Good at this inspection.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people receive safe, compassionate, high quality care. Further inspections will be planned in line with our inspection schedule or in response to concerns.

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