The inspection took place on 7 and 8 March 2018 and was unannounced. This was the first inspection of the service under its current provider. The service had previously been inspected with a different legal entity providing the service.

There was not a registered manager in post. 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.

A manager had been appointed but had not commenced at the time of the inspection. The regional support manager (interim manager) had been managing the service temporarily for eight weeks prior to the inspection to help support consistent leadership for the service. They would also be providing an induction for the new manager once they commenced in post.

Staff wanted to keep people safe and protect them from avoidable harm. The interim manager listened to people and staff to ensure there were enough staff to meet people's needs. They demonstrated their responsibilities in recognising changing circumstances within the service to help ensure that staffing levels and skill mix was effective. People were supported by the service’s recruitment policy and practices to help ensure that staff were suitable. Medicines were managed safely and staff protected people by following the home’s guidance on infection control.

Staff had the knowledge and skills they needed to carry out their roles effectively. They enjoyed attending training sessions and sharing what they had learnt with colleagues. The interim manager and deputy understood their responsibility to comply with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). People were supported to enjoy a healthy, nutritious, balanced diet whilst promoting and respecting choice. However fluid and food intake charts were not consistently completed.

Staff had a good awareness of people’s needs and treated them in a warm and respectful manner. The interim manager and staff were knowledgeable about people's lives before they started using the service. Every effort was made to enhance this knowledge so that their life experiences remained meaningful through activity and social stimulation. People received care that was person centred and based on their personal preferences.

Everyone involved in this inspection demonstrated a genuine commitment to the roles they performed and individual responsibilities. They wanted to ensure those living at the service felt safe and valued. Staff embraced new initiatives with the support of the provider, interim manager and colleagues. They continued to look at the needs of people who used the service and ways to improve these so people felt empowered to make positive changes.

The provider and interim manager had implemented a programme of improvements that was being well managed. The interim manager demonstrated a good understanding of the importance of effective quality assurance systems, however audits needed to improve to ensure food and fluid charts were completed consistently. There were processes in place to monitor quality and understand the experiences of people who used the service.

We found one breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.