We carried out an announced inspection of Care Link Residential Care Home on 3 January 2018. Care Link Residential Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. Care Link Residential Care Home is a care home for up to three adults with learning disabilities. At the time of our inspection, two people lived there and received support with personal care.

At the last inspection on 28 October 2015 the home was rated ‘Good’. At this inspection we found the home remained ‘Good’.

The home had a registered manager. The registered manager was not available at the time of the inspection. The deputy manager supported us with the inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the home. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the legal requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and the associated regulations on how the home is run.

Deprivation of Liberty Safeguarding (DoLS) applications had not been made with the local authority to deprive people of their liberties lawfully. DoLS authorisations are made to protect people's liberty where the home was required to restrict people's movement both in and outside the home.

Risks had been identified and assessed, which provided information to staff on how to mitigate risks to keep people safe. Medicines were being managed safely. There were sufficient staffing levels to support people. Premises safety checks had been carried out to ensure the premises was safe. Staff had been trained in safeguarding vulnerable adults and knew how to keep people safe. There was safe recruitment processes in place to ensure staff were suitable to support people.

Staff had the knowledge, training and skills to care for people effectively. Staff received regular supervision and support to carry out their roles. People had choices during meal times and were supported with meals when required. Assessments had been carried out on people’s ability to make certain decisions. People had access to healthcare services. People’s needs and choices were being assessed regularly through review meetings to achieve effective outcomes.

People and relatives told us that staff were friendly and caring. People were treated in a respectful and dignified manner by staff who understood the need to protect people's human rights. People had been involved with making decisions about their care.

People received care that was shaped around their individual needs, interests and preferences. Care plans were person centred and staff knew how to provide person centred care to people. People and relatives were aware of how to make complaints if they wanted to and staff knew how to manage complaints.

Staff felt well supported by the management team. People and relatives were complimentary about the management of the home. Quality assurance and monitoring systems were in place to make continuous improvements.

We carried out an announced inspection of Care Link Residential Care Home on 3 January 2018. Care Link Residential Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. Care Link Residential Care Home is a care home for up to three adults with learning disabilities. At the time of our inspection, two people lived there and received support with personal care.

At the last inspection on 28 October 2015 the home was rated ‘Good’. At this inspection we found the home remained ‘Good’.

The home had a registered manager. The registered manager was not available at the time of the inspection. The deputy manager supported us with the inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the home. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the legal requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and the associated regulations on how the home is run.

Deprivation of Liberty Safeguarding (DoLS) applications had not been made with the local authority to deprive people of their liberties lawfully. DoLS authorisations are made to protect people's liberty where the home was required to restrict people's movement both in and outside the home.

Risks had been identified and assessed, which provided information to staff on how to mitigate risks to keep people safe. Medicines were being managed safely. There were sufficient staffing levels to support people. Premises safety checks had been carried out to ensure the premises was safe. Staff had been trained in safeguarding vulnerable adults and knew how to keep people safe. There was safe recruitment processes in place to ensure staff were suitable to support people.

Staff had the knowledge, training and skills to care for people effectively. Staff received regular supervision and support to carry out their roles. People had choices during meal times and were supported with meals when required. Assessments had been carried out on people’s ability to make certain decisions. People had access to healthcare services. People’s needs and choices were being assessed regularly through review meetings to achieve effective outcomes.

People and relatives told us that staff were friendly and caring. People were treated in a respectful and dignified manner by staff who understood the need to protect people's human rights. People had been involved with making decisions about their care.

People received care that was shaped around their individual needs, interests and preferences. Care plans were person centred and staff knew how to provide person centred care to people. People and relatives were aware of how to make complaints if they wanted to and staff knew how to manage complaints.

Staff felt well supported by the management team. People and relatives were complimentary about the management of the home. Quality assurance and monitoring systems were in place to make continuous improvements.

During this inspection we spoke with two people using the service, two support workers, the manager and the deputy. We later telephoned and spoke with the relatives of all three people using the service. We looked at a number of records kept in the home, including people's care plans, risk assessments, quality monitoring reports and staff recruitment files.

People's comments included, " I have been here a long time. This is my home and we are a family" and "I like going out with the staff to the shops and for meals. It's nice." A relative told us, "they look after my family member so well. The manager and the staff are very caring and go out of their way to help."

People were asked for their consent to care and appropriate actions were taken to identify and respond when people did not have capacity to give consent.

People were supported in promoting their independence and community involvement. The two people we spoke with told us about their day centres and the local amenities they liked to visit.

The provider had taken steps to make sure that prescribed medicines were safely managed, although staff did not consistently know basic information about the medications they were administering.

Systems were in place to make sure that people using the service were protected through safe recruitment of staff.

The provider had an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of care and support that people receive.

People told us they were treated with respect, and that they could make choices over their daily lives. One person said "I go shopping, I choose the food" and "yeah, I buy my own clothes." We saw that care plans were in place, and people were consulted over their care. Records showed that people had access to health care professionals, and we observed on the day of our visit that one person had an appointment with their GP.

We found the service had procedures in place for safeguarding vulnerable adults, and that staff had undertaken training in this. The service also had a complaints procedure, which was produced in formats that were accessible to people. People told us they liked the staff. One person said of the staff "they are nice to me." We found that there were sufficient staff on duty to meet people’s needs.