62 Cheltenham Road is a care home which provides accommodation and personal care for up to three people with a learning disability. There were three people who were living at the home on the day of our visit.

People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. At the last inspection, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

People continued to receive safe care as they were supported by staff who knew how to protect them from harm. Staff were aware of people’s individual risks and plans were in place to minimise these while maintaining the person’s independence. Staffing was arranged based on people’s individual needs and what activities were happening in the home. Staffing remained flexible to suit the people living at the home.

The registered manager supported staff by arranging training so staff developed the skills to provide care and support to people, which was in-line with best practice. People receive care and support that was in line with their consent. People were supported by staff who knew their individual dietary requirements and how to support them in the right way. People had access to healthcare professionals when they required them.

People are supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

People were treated well which had a positive impact on their well-being. People we spoke with told us that all staff spoke kindly to them and they felt happy and comfortable in their home. Staff helped people to make choices about their care and the views and decisions they had made about their care were listened and acted upon.

People were involved in the planning and review of their care and support. People were supported to continue with their hobbies and interests which promoted their independence and confidence. Information was provided to people should they wish to raise a complaint.

Systems were in place to monitor and assess the quality and safety of the care provided. There were opportunities for people and relatives to feedback their views about their care and this was used to improve the service. Staff were supported to carry out their roles and responsibilities effectively, so that people received care and support in-line with their needs and wishes. The checks completed focused on people’s experience of care. Where areas for improvement were identified, systems were in place to ensure lessons were learnt and used to improve the service delivery.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

This inspection took place on 18 November 2015 and was unannounced. 62 Cheltenham Road provides accommodation and personal care for up to three people. There were three people who were living at the home on the day of our visit.

There was a registered manager in place at the time of our inspection. 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 lived in a safe environment as staff knew how to protect people from the risk harm. Staff recognised signs of abuse and knew how to report this. Staff made sure risk assessments were in place and took actions to minimise risks without taking away people’s right to make decisions.

People told us there were enough staff to help them when they needed them. Staff told us there were enough staff to provide safe care and support to people. The provider did not use agency staff and used their own staff to cover any staff shortages, to support people with continuity of care. People’s medicines were checked and managed in a safe way.

People received care and support that met their needs and preferences. Care and support was provided to people with their consent and agreement. Staff understood and recognised the importance of this. People’s independence was promoted to eat a healthy and balanced diet. We found that people had access to healthcare professionals, such as their doctor when this was required.

People were regularly involved in planning their health and social care. People’s views and decisions they had made about their care were listened and acted upon. People told us that staff treated them kindly, with dignity and their privacy was respected.

People told us they knew how to make a complaint and felt comfortable to do this should they feel they needed to. Where the provider had received a complaint, these had been responded to.

People felt listened to by the registered manager and deputy manager. The registered manager demonstrated clear leadership and staff told us they felt supported to carry out their roles and responsibilities effectively.

We found that the checks the registered manager and the provider completed focused upon the experiences people received. Where areas for improvement were identified, systems were in place to ensure that lessons were learnt and used to improve the service.

We spoke with two people who lived there, one staff, the registered manager and the provider. We also observed how staff cared for people.

We looked at care plans for two of the people who lived there. They covered a range of needs and had been reviewed regularly to ensure that staff had up to date information. There were also detailed assessments about the person's health so that staff could support people to keep healthy and well. All the staff we spoke with had knowledge of the needs of the people who lived there.

People who lived there were supported to make choices around the care they received. A staff member told us: “It would always be about their (people who lived there) choice”. One person who lived there told us: “I do what I want to do”.

We saw that staff helped and supported people. We spoke with two of the people that lived there. They told us they were very happy in the home. We saw that people received care that met their individual needs.

We found that medicines had been appropriately stored and administered.

We found that staff received training and support to enable them to carry out their job roles effectively.

We found that there had not been any recent complaints. We saw that the provider made the procedure for complaints accessible to the people who lived there. We found that the provider had a system to follow any complaints until they were resolved.

We spoke with three people who were using the service, the registered manager and the deputy manager. We observed how staff interacted with people to support them in making decisions about their lifestyles. We saw that staff respected the decisions that people made. We spoke with a person who said, "It’s my favourite world here."

The one care file that we reviewed indicated that arrangements had been made to support people in receiving their health care needs. The care file included information about the person’s preferences for their activities and accessing the community and how they were met. From discussions held with staff we found that people were well supported in leading a varied lifestyle that suited their individual preferences.

People were encouraged and supported to do things for themselves but were given choices. One person told us, "I go home once a month for the weekend."

We found that systems were in place to keep people safe. Staff had received training in safeguarding people and knew how to respond to concerns. We found that effective staff recruitment procedures were in place so that people were protected from potential risks of harm.

One person we spoke with told us they knew how to make a complaint. We found that the registered manager had a comprehensive quality assurance system in place to monitor the standard of the services that people received.

We carried out this review because this service had not been visited since the last inspection 6 November 2008.

When we visited the home we spoke with people who lived there and staff on duty.

We pathway tracked the care of two people and looked at how their care was provided and managed. Staff demonstrated that they had sufficient knowledge and skills to provide the care and support for people although the records we looked at did not support this.

We asked people about the care and support they received and they said they ‘like living here’ and they were ‘happy with the staff’ and the support staff gave them.

People told us they liked living at the home. Comments included ‘I wouldn’t want to move away because they I am happy here’, ‘I have a good life and staff help me if I need it’, ‘all staff are good and I can talk to my key worker if I have any problems’.

People told us they were involved in decisions about their care. We saw information in essential life plans that confirmed this.