This inspection took place on 18 December 2018. The inspection was unannounced.

Castle View House is a ‘care home'. People in care home services receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. Staff provided residential care for up to eight people living with a mental illness. There were seven people living at the service when we inspected.

A registered manager was employed at the service and they were present during the inspection. The registered manager was also the provider of the service. 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.

Staff assessed and treated people as individuals so that they understood how they planned people’s care to maintain their safety, health and wellbeing and choices. Risks were assessed within the service, both to individual people and for the wider risk from the environment people lived in.

Actions to minimise risks were recorded. Incidents and accidents were recorded and checked by the registered manager to see what steps could be taken to prevent these happening again. Staff understood the steps they should take to minimise risks when they were identified. The provider’s health and safety policies and management plans were implemented by staff to protect people from harm.

Staff were encouraged and supported to raise any concerns they may have. Incidents and accidents were recorded and checked by the provider to see what steps could be taken to prevent these happening again. Staff were trained about the safe management of people with behaviours that may harm themselves or others.

We observed safe care. Staff had received training about mental health and protecting people from abuse. The management and staff showed a good understanding of what their roles and responsibilities were in preventing abuse.

The registered manager and other senior staff held professional mental health qualifications and were registered to practice with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). They worked alongside their staff to deliver care. Therefore, the management had an in depth knowledge of how the service was running and got to know people and staff very well.

The registered manager involved people in planning their care by assessing their needs in partnership with the person and the community mental health team. Staff practice was based on recognised Mental Health person centred approaches. We observed and people described a service that was welcoming and friendly. Staff provided friendly compassionate care and support.

People were encouraged to get involved in regular reviews of their care and how their care was planned and delivered. All of the people had the support of a community psychiatric nurse (CPN) and an in house key worker. People were given maximum control over their lives based on positive risk taking practice. People could involve relatives or others who were important to them when they chose the care they wanted.

Care plans were kept updated to assist staff to meet people’s needs. Care plans recorded people’s life story, recorded who the important relatives and friends were in people’s lives and explained what lifestyle choices people had made. Care planning told staff what people could do independently, what skills people wanted to develop and what staff needed to help people to do.

The registered manager understood their responsibility to comply with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). People are supported to have maximum choice and control of their