Creative Support - Stockport Extra Care Services

Updated 13 December 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 completed by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

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.

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

We gave a short period of notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 08 November 2023 and ended on 13 November 2023. We visited the location’s office on 08 November 2023 and 13 November 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since our last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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 3 people who used the service and 3 relatives.

We also spoke with 6 members of staff including the registered manager, team leader, and care staff. We obtained feedback from 4 professionals who worked alongside the service.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 4 people's care records, medication records and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures. We also reviewed 2 staff files in relation to recruitment and training.

Updated 13 December 2023

About the service

Creative Support – Stockport Extra Care Services provides care and support to people living in their own homes, based within 2 extra care housing schemes in the ‘Reddish’ area of Stockport. At the time of our inspection the service was providing support to 32 people. 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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

Staff were recruited using suitable method. Feedback was mixed about staffing levels, but it was generally people and families agreed that this had improved. People felt safe and action was taken to ensure lessons were learnt when things went wrong. People’s needs and risks were suitable assessed, and action taken to mitigate risk as much as possible. People were supported to take their medicines as needed but records were not always as robust as possible, and we have made a recommendation about this.

People’s needs were assessed, and people were supported in line with their needs. Staff worked closely with other services where needed, and ensured people had support with eating and drinking when required. Staff felt well supported in their role and accessed a variety of training. 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.

People told us staff were kind and caring and treated them well. People were encouraged to be involved in making decision about their care, decision were respected, and independence was promoted as much as possible.

People were supported with person-centred care. Information was provided to people in line with the accessible information standards. People were encouraged to engage in activities where these were available. People and relatives felt confident to raise concerns and these were investigated and addressed by the staff and managemnt team as needed. People were supported to receive end of life care when needed.

People told us the service was person-centred. Various systems for checks of the quality of the service were in place, although some of these were not always completed effectively. The registered manager and management team were committed to the service and people they supported, and responsive to any aspects of the service which could be improved. The service had good working relationships with other services.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 24 October 2017).

Why we inspected

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

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation about the management of people’s medicines.

Follow up

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