Background to this inspection
Updated
12 March 2016
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
This inspection took place on 3 February and was unannounced. The inspection was conducted by an adult social care inspector.
We spoke with six people who lived at Cherry Tree House, four staff members, and the manager of the home. We also spoke with three relatives of the people living at Cherry Tree House.
We looked at and case tracked care files for three people and the staff records for three members of staff. We looked at medication administration records and medication audits.
We observed the care and support of people. We looked round the communal areas of the building. We went inside one person’s flat who had invited us inside for a cup of tea. The people living at Cherry Tree House held tenancies with their landlord, the flats were not maintained by Housing & Care 21.
We looked at the records held by CQC in particular the information we acquired since our last inspection.
Updated
12 March 2016
We carried out an unannounced inspection of Cherry Tree House on 3 February 2016.
Cherry Tree House is a block of ten flats over two floors, in a residential area of Moreton close to local amenities. At the time of our inspection ten people held a tenancy at Cherry Tree House. People who lived at Cherry Tree House had support needs arising from having dementia or early onset dementia.
Each flat was fully equipped and self-contained; people living in the flats held a tenancy with Liverpool Housing Trust. The support was provided by Housing & Care 21.
In addition to ten flats, Cherry Tree House had communal areas that people could use. There was a communal lounge, kitchen and dining room which had access to well-kept communal gardens. There was a communal laundry room and a spare room which the manager told us had recently been used by people for therapies and beauty treatments. There was also a manager’s office and a staff room with a toilet and shower.
There was a registered manager in place at the time of our inspection. The manager had been in post since the flats opened eight years ago. 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.
We were able to speak to six people who lived at Cherry Tree House, some of their relatives and staff members working on the day of our inspection.
People we spoke with told us they were happy and felt safe living at Cherry Tree House. People’s family members told us they felt their loved ones were safe and they expressed confidence in the support they were receiving.
We observed that people were safe, with the appropriate level of staff present and assistive technology in their flats making it easy for people to seek help. People’s care plans contained risk assessments which covered all aspects of their lives. People told us they were involved in completing these and we witnessed that people had signed their own assessments.
People were supported with their health needs. There was evidence of this in the care we observed, from what people told us and from people’s care files. The staff team at Cherry Tree House engaged with, and had built up relationships with, health professionals to ensure people health needs were met. If people chose they were accompanied to health appointments.
People told us they felt well cared for. The relatives we spoke with agreed with this. We witnessed and saw evidence of a creative and innovative approach to caring for people and their needs. It was a caring and enabling approach which sought to champion people’s rights, whilst keeping people safe. People’s relatives who we spoke with told us people’s lives had improved due to the support received at Cherry Tree House.
People were treated with dignity and the upmost respect. They were involved in planning their support and were encouraged to be independent and develop their skills. People’s choices were respected. The appropriate level of support was offered by staff to help people understand situations and make choices that were good for them. The staff team understood and supported people in line with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (2005).
The staff team at Cherry Tree House told us they were well supported. We observed this to be the case with appropriate training and training refreshers, supervisions with the manager, regular staff team meetings and times when the manager observed staff members practice in order to support them to develop.
Staff told us they enjoyed their work and supporting people at Cherry Tree House. This was clear from our observations and staff contributed to the friendly atmosphere by their enthusiasm and approach. Many of the staff team had been at Cherry Tree House for a long time. Those we asked told us they would be happy for a family member of theirs to live at Cherry Tree House.
The manager was visible and it was clear she had good relationships with people living at Cherry Tree House. She had clear values which included treating people with respect, and this cascaded into the team and influenced their support.
The manager completed regular checks and audits regarding the health and safety of the communal premises and sought feedback from people and their relatives regarding the quality of the support provided.