We inspected this service on 30 December 2014. We announced this inspection on 29 December 2014 because we wanted to make sure people would be at 16 Tynedale to speak with about their experiences.

16 Tynedale provides care and accommodation for up to three people. The home specialises in the care of people who have a learning disability. On the day of our inspection there were two people using the service.

The home had a registered manager in place. 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.

On the day of the inspection there was a calm and relaxed atmosphere in the home and we saw staff interacted with people in a very friendly and respectful manner. One person told us, “I like it here. I visit my grandma every day. I do my own washing and I have a key to my room and can keep it locked. I look after my own medicines and go on trips to Whitby with my friend. The staff have been helping me to keep my room tidy”.

We spoke with two care staff who told us they felt supported and that the registered manager was very approachable. Throughout the day we saw that people and staff appeared very comfortable and relaxed with the registered manager and staff on duty.

People had their physical and mental health needs monitored. There were regular reviews of people’s health and the home responded to people’s changing needs. People were assisted to attend appointments with various health and social care professionals to ensure they received care, treatment and support for their specific conditions.

We saw people’s care plans were very person centred and written in a way to describe their care, treatment and support needs. These were regularly evaluated, reviewed and updated. The care plan format was easy for service users to understand by using of lots of pictures and symbols. We saw lots of evidence to demonstrate that people were involved in all aspects of their care plans.

The care staff we spoke with said they received appropriate training, good support and regular supervision. We saw records to support this.

The care staff understood the procedures they needed to follow to ensure that people were safe. They were able to describe the different ways that people might experience abuse and the correct steps to take if they were concerned that abuse had taken place.

Our observations during the inspection showed us that people were supported by sufficient numbers of staff. We saw staff were responsive to people’s needs and wishes and we viewed records that showed us staff were enabled to maintain and develop their skills through training and development activities. The staff we spoke with confirmed they attended training and development activities to maintain their skills. We also viewed records that showed us there were safe recruitment processes in place.

Procedures for dealing with emergencies were in place and staff were able to describe these to us.

For example, there was a lone working policy and on call procedures for people to follow if staff needed support or guidance.

The registered manager and staff understood their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). DoLS applications had been made appropriately.

Throughout the day we saw staff interacting with people in a very caring and professional way. We saw a member of staff offering to assist a person to prepare their evening meal. The staff were gentle and encouraging and the person happily agreed to their support. We saw when staff offered support to people they always respected their wishes. For example, one person chose to have a bath that afternoon and this was supported by staff who made sure their privacy was maintained. We saw people being offered the choice of what to have to eat for their evening meal.

People we spoke with said they liked the food and staff said there was always plenty of food held in stock so people could choose what they wanted to eat each day.

We saw activities were personalised for each person. People also made suggestions about activities and outings during regular house meetings. Where necessary additional staff were provided to enable people to enjoy a range of community facilities and also to support people to attend health care appointments.

People received a balanced diet. We saw people could choose what they wanted to eat each day and this was supported by the staff.

We saw the provider had policies and procedures for dealing with medicines and these were followed by staff.

The provider had a pictorial complaints procedure which people felt they were able to use. Both people we spoke with told us they had a keyworker and if they were not happy they would talk to their keyworker, staff or the registered manager about their concerns.

We discussed the quality assurance systems in place with the registered manager. We were told audits of accidents and incidents were carried out and these were investigated by the registered manager to ensure risks were identified and improvements made. We saw records that showed us this took place. We also saw the views of the people using the service were regularly sought and used to make changes.