Housing 21 - Mulberry Court

Housing and Care 21-Mulberry Court 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.

Not everyone living at Mulberry Court receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided. There were 45 people receiving the regulated activity of 'personal care' from Mulberry Court at the time of the inspection.

Mulberry court consists of 60 self-contained flats with one or two-person occupancies. People had access to shared communal lounges and, shared laundry facilities. There was also an on-site café, dining room and hairdressing salon.

There was a registered manager in post at 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 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run

The previous inspection was completed in March 2016 and the service was rated 'Good' overall. At this inspection the service was again rated 'Good'.

People received safe care and treatment. Staff had been trained in safeguarding and had a good understanding of safeguarding policies and procedures. The administration and management of people's medicines was safe. There were sufficient numbers of staff working at the service to support people with their required care. There was a robust recruitment process to ensure suitable staff were recruited.

The risk posed to individual people had been assessed and suitable action had been taken to minimise their personal risk. Where people had suffered an accident, themes and trends had been analysed, and action had been taken to ensure people were safe and plans put in place to minimise the risk of re-occurrence.

Staff had received training appropriate to their role. People were supported to access health professionals when required. They could choose what they liked to eat and drink and were supported on a regular basis to participate in meaningful activities.

People were supported in a personalised way that encouraged them to be as independent as possible.

Choice was promoted at all times and the service was working within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA). People were given information about the service in ways they wanted to and could understand.

There was a positive culture throughout the service which focused on providing person centred care and maximising people's independence. Staff were compassionate and kind, and were highly motivated to offer person centred care. People and relatives, we spoke with told us staff were caring. The principles of respect, dignity, compassion and, equality and diversity were embedded in the service. People were treated as equals regardless of age, gender or personal beliefs.

The service was responsive to people's needs. Care plans were person centred to guide staff to provide consistent, high quality care and support. Daily records were detailed and provided evidence of person centred care. Where required, people were supported to make decisions about end of life care which met their individual needs and preferences.

The service was well led. People, staff and relatives spoke positively about the registered manager. Quality assurance checks were in place and identified actions to improve the service. The registered manager sought feedback from people and their relatives to continually improve the service.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found