Harpers Green

Updated 25 April 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service provides care 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 bought or 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 service.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We looked at the information we held about the service. This information included statutory notifications the provider had sent to CQC. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 4 people who used the service and 2 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 8 staff including the registered manager, deputy, regional head of operations and care workers.

We looked at a range of records. These included 4 people's records related to their care and support, medicines records, four staff recruitment records, staffing rotas and records related to the auditing and monitoring of the service.

Updated 25 April 2023

Harpers Green is an extra care service consisting of 97 apartments, accommodating people within a large purpose-built building. The service also offers a hairdressing salon, bistro and free laundry service. At the time of our inspection there were 14 people receiving regulated activities.

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.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

Medicines management had not always been robust enough and instances of medicines administration mistakes had occurred. The registered manager had identified these issues prior to the inspection and had started to address this.

Care record were mostly up to date and reflected what care and support people required. However, we did identify that some care records did not have sufficient information about people’s life history or background.

People and their relatives benefitted from caring staff which meant they experienced continuity of care. Staff reported the culture of the service as open and positive.

Care workers spoke highly about working for the service. People told us staff were caring and kind. Staff had a good understanding of how to support people in a way that promoted their privacy, dignity and independence.

Staffing levels were monitored, and we received positive feedback about the timekeeping of staff and call duration times. The registered manager discussed about having the appropriate staffing and on-going recruitment processes in place.

Staff were familiar with accident, incident, and safeguarding reporting procedures. The provider ensured that all such incidents were investigated and follow up actions / lessons learnt were acknowledged.

Infection prevention and control (IPC) and COVID-19 procedures were in place. Staff received IPC training and were provided with the personal protective equipment (PPE).

Pre-employment recruitment checks were conducted; people received care and support by staff who had been safely recruited. Staff stated they were supported by the management team and received regular supervision and supported with learning and development opportunities.

People and staff told us they thought the registered manager was doing a good job. They told us they were approachable, responsive, and keen to make improvements.

The provider and registered manager followed governance systems which provided effective oversight and monitoring of the service. These governance systems and processes were becoming embedded in the service and identified areas of improvements were needed.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 4 February 2021, and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Recommendations

We have made two recommendations to improve medicines management and the quality and consistency of records.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.