The inspection took place on 3 August 2016. The inspection was unannounced.

Aspect House is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 13 people with mental health care needs. There were 11 people living at the home when we visited. The aim of the service is to support people whose goal is to live independently in the community.

The service had a registered manager. This is a requirement of the provider’s registration. 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.

All the people we spoke with told us they felt supported and safe living at Aspect House and this view was shared by relatives. The atmosphere in the home was relaxed and friendly. Staff were able to talk confidently about how they safeguarded people from abuse. The provider’s recruitment procedures reduced the risk of staff who worked at the home being unsuitable to work with people who lived there.

The registered manager and staff knew the people at the home well and were committed to providing a service that met people’s individual needs. Care plans contained relevant information for staff to help them provide the individual support people required in the way people preferred.

People were involved in making decisions about how they spent their days and were supported to take part in a wide range of activities at home and in the local community. People went on holidays of their choice. Staff supported people to be involved in daily tasks which helped increase and maintain people’s independence.

There were sufficient numbers of staff at Aspect House who had the right skills and knowledge to meet people’s needs. Staff were available to support people when needed, inside and outside the home.

Risk management plans informed staff how identified risks should be managed to keep people safe. People and their family members were involved in planning, and reviewing how they were cared for and supported.

The manager and staff mostly supported people in line with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Staff gained people’s consent before they provided care and support. Care workers respected people’s choices and decisions. However, where people did not have capacity to make some decisions information was not always clearly recorded.

People who lived at the home were supported to maintain links with family and friends. People and relatives thought staff were responsive to people’s needs and had the right skills and knowledge to provide care and support. Staff had completed the training the provider considered necessary to effectively meet people’s needs.

Staff supported people to attend health care appointments and to maintain their health and wellbeing. People had enough to eat and drink. People were supported to make food choices and offered alternatives if they did not like the food on offer. Staff followed guidelines to ensure people’s meals were prepared and served to manage any nutritional risks.

The provider had processes in place to monitor the quality of the service provided and drive continuous improvement. These were mostly followed, however medicines were not managed in line with the provider’s medication policy.

Staff were motivated and provided care and support in a caring and meaningful way. They treated people with kindness and compassion and made positive comments to people that gave them a sense of self-worth. Staff respected people’s privacy and worked with people to ensure their dignity was maintained.

Staff, people, relatives and social care professionals felt the registered manager was approachable. The provider and registered manager encouraged people, relatives an

Aspect House provides a supported living environment to people whose goal is to live independently in the community. The service provides support and life skills experience to enable people to increase their skills to achieve their long term goal. One person told us "My goal is to get my own flat next."

The service was registered with the CQC in November 2012 and this was our first inspection. When we visited the service there were three people living at Aspect House although the home could accommodate up to twelve individuals.

We saw a person centred approach had been used in drawing up care plans. A ‘life skills’ document had been developed with each individual. This showed the goals of each person and how they wanted to be supported. This meant the individual was put at the centre of planning their own care.

People we spoke with told us they enjoyed living at the home. One person said “I have my own room with a separate kitchen and my own key, it’s nice.”

People who lived at Aspect House were observed to be open and confident in their interactions with staff.

During our visit we asked about the process for monitoring the quality of the service provided. We saw the service had good monitoring procedures in place.