We carried out this unannounced comprehensive inspection on 8 August 2018.

Canterbury House is a care home for up to 63 adults. People who are older are the primary users of this service. There is a separate living unit called Turner on the lower ground floor that accommodates people living with dementia. This has two courtyard garden areas that are accessible and safe. This is a large purpose-built care home that also has a swimming pool and several private suits on the top floor. Gardens and seating areas are available for use by everyone.

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. This service does not provide nursing care.

The service had a manager who had applied to become registered. They were present throughout the inspection. 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.

The last comprehensive inspection was completed on 6 July 2017. We gave a rating of requires improvement and there was a breach in regulation relating to safeguarding people from abuse. At this inspection we found that matters were greatly improved and the service is rated good. Therefore, the provider was no longer in breach of any regulations.

The provider Anchor, through its management structure and the appointment of a new manager have made improvements to this service. We found that our concerns had been responded to and resolved. Staff knew how to use their safeguarding training and ensure people were protected. Complaints were taken seriously and used to drive developments and change. People were listened to and suggestions made implemented. We found a more settled and inclusive service that staff were proud to belong to.

People who lived at the service told us that managers and staff were available to them. Staffing was suitable. There were enough staff who were appropriately trained, but equally important staff were kind and caring. We saw and heard of several examples of staff attentiveness to people and their needs. People and staff felt valued.

There had been developments with the environment and opportunities for people living with dementia. This was work ongoing with more training being rolled out, even on the day of our visit.

People had access to suitable healthcare with initiatives of new ways to monitor the most vulnerable people being implemented with regular multidisciplinary meetings. People were provided with good quality food that they liked and people were well hydrated. Staff were mindful and used their imitative to encourage people to remember to drink.

People were involved and consulted with all aspects of their care and support. Families were positive about their experiences and the care given to their family member.

The service was monitored by the provider to help ensure its ongoing quality and safety. The provider’s governance framework, helped monitor the management and leadership of the service, as well as the ongoing quality and safety of the care support people were receiving.

This unannounced inspection took place on 6 July 2017. This was the first ratings inspection since the care home was registered under the provider Anchor Trust.

This care home had 43 people resident at the time of our inspection visit. They are registered to take 63 people. Canterbury House is purpose built and offers residential care for adults, mainly older people. They have a dedicated unit named the Turner Wing for people living with dementia.

There was a registered manger in place and they were present throughout 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.

Canterbury House offers a high standard of accommodation to people. People valued this facility and were overall positive about the care, support and services received. People were treated with respect and dignity. They had their nutrition and health needs well met. Local health care professionals have consistently praised the level of care given to people at this service. People told us that they felt safe and well cared for. We found that systems in place relating to safeguarding were not consistently followed and therefore placed people at risk.

However, the service was recovering from a set of events that meant that people had not received care and support from regular known carers. A number of staff had left at the same time and the registered manager was absent for some weeks. Measures were taken to ensure there were sufficient staff by use of agency. People were dissatisfied with the volume of agency staff and had contacted CQC about the changes and potential risks. We found that the registered manager had returned and had started a promising recruitment drive to replace staff. We concluded that at the time of our visit staffing levels were safe and relationships were set to improve as regular staff came into post. We believe that a more timely response could have been made by Anchor, the provider with regards staffing.

Senior managers with Anchor had visited and found that standards could be improved and had set about addressing matters. This included staffing and how to develop the experience for people living with dementia. Managers also need to develop the open communication with people that use the service to develop a culture that is transparent and inclusive of the running of the service. This includes demonstrating that complaints are used as an opportunity to learn and improve the service and resolve people’s expectations around the catering services on offer.

Staff were positive about Anchor management and felt supported within their roles and had access to good training. Communication with the staff team was good. There were systems and audits in place that measured the quality of service on offer; therefore Anchor as an organisation had oversight of this service.