Cherry Tree House

Updated 5 March 2018

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 was the first inspection of Cherry Tree House since it was registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in July 2016 with Local Solutions as the provider of the service. Prior to July 2016 the service had been operating under a different provider. Staff including the registered manager transferred to working for Local Solutions when it registered to provide this service.

This inspection took place on 02 February 2018 and was unannounced. The inspection was carried out by two adult social care inspectors.

We used information that we held about the service and the service provider. This included any contact we had had from the service, people using the service or their relatives.

Cherry Tree House was providing personal care to nine people at the time of this inspection. We spoke with four people who were using the service and met another two people. We also spoke with two of their relatives. We spoke with six members of staff who held different roles within the service including the registered manager and head of homecare. We looked at a range of records including recruitment and training files for three members of staff. We also looked at care records for three people receiving personal care.

Updated 5 March 2018

This inspection took place on 02 February 2018 and was unannounced. The inspection was carried out by two adult social care (ASC) inspectors.

This was the first inspection of Cherry Tree House since it was registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in July 2016 with Local Solutions as the provider of the service. Prior to July 2016 the service had been operating under a different provider. Staff including the registered manager transferred to working for Local Solutions when it registered to provide this service.

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. People using the service lived in their own flat within a block of purpose built flats.

There was a registered manager in post who was responsible for the day-to-day running of the service. 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.

People using the service were positive about the support they received. They told us “They look after me well,” and “I get on well with everyone. It’s a nice place to be.”

Relatives were also positive about the service telling us “This place is a breath of fresh air. You couldn’t drag [relative] out of here with wild horses. [Relative] says ‘I am not moving’,” and “The staff are very good. The care is excellent. If there are any concerns they respond straight away.”

People told us that they felt safe with the service they received. Staff had received training in safeguarding adults at risk of abuse or neglect and potential concerns had been identified, reported and acted upon.

Staff knew how to manage people’s medications safely and people received the support they needed with this.

Staff were experienced, knew people well and provided the support they needed in a timely manner. Training was provided to staff to keep them up to date and help them prepare for future needs of people they supported. Regular meetings and supervisions were held with staff along with checks on their work and their medication practices. This helped to support staff and check they were supporting people safely and well.

Robust recruitment procedures were in place for recruiting new staff. At the time of this inspection the majority the staff team had worked there for several years and knew the people receiving support well.

In addition to supporting people with their personal care staff also supported people with their lifestyles. One person explained “It’s really relaxed. I enjoy being independent and am happy.” If people chose to they received support to occupy their time, learn new skills and become a member of their local community.

Staff also provided support to people to maintain relationships with their families. Relatives felt involved in people’s lives, were happy with the care staff provided and felt involved in planning their relatives care and support.

People received support if they needed it with their healthcare and with managing their meal preparation and food shopping. Staff provided support when needed to encourage people with their eating and drinking.

We saw that people felt very relaxed around the registered manager and staff team and activity sought their company. Staff were quick to respond to people’s requests for support or to spend time having a chat with people.

Systems were in place for dealing with any concerns or complaints and everyone we spoke with told us that they had confidence the registered manager would listen and act on their concerns.

The provider had a series of systems in place for checking on and planning improvements to the quality of the service provided.