Blossomwood is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 12 people who require support regarding a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder. At the time of our inspection 12 people were living at the service.

When we last visited the service it was rated good. At this inspection we found the service remained good.

People were safe because staff supported them to understand how to keep safe and staff knew how to manage risk effectively. There were sufficient numbers of care staff on shift with the correct skills and knowledge to keep people safe. There were appropriate arrangements in place for medicines to be stored and administered safely.

The Care Quality Commission is required by law to monitor how a provider applies the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and to report on what we find. DoLS are in place to protect people where they do not have capacity to make decisions and where it is considered necessary to restrict their freedom in some way. Management and staff understood their responsibility in this area. Staff were committed to ensuring all decisions were made in people’s best interest.

Staff had good relationships with people who used the service and were attentive to their needs. People’s privacy and dignity was respected at all times. People and their relatives were involved in making decisions about their care and support.

Care plans were individual and contained information about how people preferred to communicate and their ability to make decisions.

People were encouraged to take part in activities that they enjoyed, and were supported to keep in contact with family members. When needed, they were supported to see health professionals and referrals were put through to ensure they had the appropriate care and treatment.

Relatives and staff were complimentary about the management of the service. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities in providing safe and good quality care to the people they supported.

The management team had systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service provided.

This inspection took place on 30 December 2014.

Blossomwood is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 12 people who require support regarding a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder. At the time of our inspection 11 people were living at the service.

There was a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 and relatives considered the service was safe and people were protected from abuse. All staff were knowledgeable about the risks of abuse and how they should report abuse if they were ever required to do so. There were sufficient staff on duty to meet people’s needs. Robust recruitment practices were in place and had been followed when staff were appointed.

The service had developed safe arrangements for the storage, management and disposal of medications. The service has worked with other professionals to reduce some people’s medication, particularly medications that were major tranquillisers. We found that where people lacked capacity to make their own decisions, consent had been obtained in line with the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005.

The CQC is required to monitor the operation of the MCA 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and report our findings. DoLS are put in place to protect people where they lack the capacity to make decisions for themselves and when it is considered necessary to restrict their freedom in some way, to protect themselves or others. At the time of our inspection no applications had been made to the local authority in relation to people who used the service. The nominated individual for the service and registered manager were aware of this information and continued to review the situation.

People had access to healthcare professionals including their own GP and dentist and further support was given by Consultant Doctors and Community Nurses. People were regularly assessed and given appropriate levels of support to maintain a balanced diet. They were supported by staff who had the necessary skills and knowledge to provide effective support. Staff knew people well and met their various needs and supported their interests and hobbies in an understanding way.

Staff protected people’s dignity by shutting doors when providing personal care. We also observed staff responding to peoples choices and needs through offering a variety of drinks and snacks. Staff were able to respond to people’s assessed needs. They understood and recorded a detailed assessment of people’s needs before inviting them to visit the service. The individual was then invited to stay at the service for a short-time to determine if they liked the service and the staff were able to meet their needs.

People followed past times that was of interest to them and there was organised activities available to people in and outside of the service, including the regular use of the service’s minibus for outings which people enjoyed. A system of audits and surveys plus reviews took place and had been used to monitor the performance and development of the service.

The nominated individual and manager had introduced a clear vision and set of values which was based upon individual person centred care and had led the team to put this into practice for the people.

We spoke with five of the 12 people who used the service. Where people were unable to verbally communicate their views of the service to us, we spent time sitting in the communal lounge observing their routines and the interaction between them and staff. We saw that the staff interacted with people in a caring, respectful and professional manner. We saw that people responded to staff by smiling.

People spoken with told us that they were happy living in the service. One person said, “I am happy here.” Another person said, “I like it.” People told us about the activities that they participated in.

We spoke with one person’s relative who told us that they were happy with the service their relative was provided with.

We looked at the care records of three people who used the service and found that people experienced care, treatment and support that met their needs and protected their rights. We found that before people received any care or treatment they were asked for their consent and the staff acted in accordance with their wishes. There were systems in place to manage complaints and people’s comments and complaints were listened to and acted on.

People were supported by sufficient staff numbers who were trained to meet their needs.

We found that people were provided with a clean and hygienic environment to live in.

We gathered evidence of people’s experiences of the service by talking with people, observing how they spent their time and noting how they interacted with other people living in the home and with staff.

We spoke with people who told us they liked living at Blossomwood. We saw that people smiled and appeared relaxed and comfortable with staff and others living in the home.

Relatives who returned questionnaires as part of the home’s own quality assurance process stated “The standard of care is excellent” and “We praise the management and staff.”

During our inspection we saw that people received good care and that staff treated them with respect.