Clifton Court is a residential care home for up to 15 people with a mental health problem such as depression or schizophrenia. There were 14 people living in the home with an age range of 43 to 73 years of age. At the last inspection, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

There was 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.

People’s needs were effectively met because staff had the skills they needed to do so. Staff were well supported with induction, training, supervision and appraisal. There was enough staff on duty to keep people safe and care workers were flexible so people could do what they wanted, when they wanted. Recruitment practices were good.

People’s medicines were managed safely and staff understood when they needed to give people medicines on an ‘as and when basis’, and how to support people with self administration, if this is what they wanted.

Staff knew how to safeguard people from abuse and what they should do if they thought someone was at risk. Risks to individuals were well managed and people were able to stay safe without having their freedoms restricted. People’s independence was well promoted. Incidents and accidents were well managed.

Although everyone living in the home had capacity to make their own decisions about their care, the registered manager and staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (2015) and made sure they gained consent from people in line with legislation.

People were well supported to eat and drink enough. Food was homemade and nutritious and people were involved in making decisions about menus. Everyone was supported to maintain good physical and mental health and appropriate referrals were made to health care professionals when required.

People were treated with dignity and respect by kind and caring staff. Staff had a good understanding of the care and support needs of every person living in the home. People had developed positive relationships with staff and there was a friendly and relaxed atmosphere in the home. People were well supported to do the things that were important to them, such as going to church or out for a meal. People’s social and spiritual needs were met.

Person centred care was important to the service and staff made sure people were at the centre of their practice. Care plans focused on the whole person, and assessments and plans were regularly updated. There was an open culture in the home, and staff felt confident to discuss any concerns they might have and said the registered manager would act on them. Staff said they were well supported and were well motivated to provide good care. The registered manager knew all of the people who lived in the home very well and ensured care was person centred.

The service has met all of the fundamental standards and the registered manager and staff have maintained a consistently good service. Further information is in the detailed findings below.

Clifton Court is a residential care home for up to 15 people with a mental health problem such as depression or schizophrenia. There were 14 people living in the home with an age range of 43 to 73 years of age. At the last inspection, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

There was 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.

People’s needs were effectively met because staff had the skills they needed to do so. Staff were well supported with induction, training, supervision and appraisal. There was enough staff on duty to keep people safe and care workers were flexible so people could do what they wanted, when they wanted. Recruitment practices were good.

People’s medicines were managed safely and staff understood when they needed to give people medicines on an ‘as and when basis’, and how to support people with self administration, if this is what they wanted.

Staff knew how to safeguard people from abuse and what they should do if they thought someone was at risk. Risks to individuals were well managed and people were able to stay safe without having their freedoms restricted. People’s independence was well promoted. Incidents and accidents were well managed.

Although everyone living in the home had capacity to make their own decisions about their care, the registered manager and staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (2015) and made sure they gained consent from people in line with legislation.

People were well supported to eat and drink enough. Food was homemade and nutritious and people were involved in making decisions about menus. Everyone was supported to maintain good physical and mental health and appropriate referrals were made to health care professionals when required.

People were treated with dignity and respect by kind and caring staff. Staff had a good understanding of the care and support needs of every person living in the home. People had developed positive relationships with staff and there was a friendly and relaxed atmosphere in the home. People were well supported to do the things that were important to them, such as going to church or out for a meal. People’s social and spiritual needs were met.

Person centred care was important to the service and staff made sure people were at the centre of their practice. Care plans focused on the whole person, and assessments and plans were regularly updated. There was an open culture in the home, and staff felt confident to discuss any concerns they might have and said the registered manager would act on them. Staff said they were well supported and were well motivated to provide good care. The registered manager knew all of the people who lived in the home very well and ensured care was person centred.

The service has met all of the fundamental standards and the registered manager and staff have maintained a consistently good service. Further information is in the detailed findings below.

We spoke with three people who used the service, seven staff and two relatives. We looked at staff files including the training records. We looked at three care files and all the medication records. We saw training records, supervision reports and appraisal schedules both past and future.

We observed that staff engaged with people in a respectful, compassionate manner which preserved their dignity. The location had a very relaxed atmosphere and the people who used the service appeared to be at ease with the staff. We found that the staff received regular training and support.

People’s opinions were sought about their care, their preferences documented in the care records and the care provided was reviewed regularly. One relative told that “The home shows a true dedication to the quality of the care they provide”.

Medications were supplied and administered safely and staff were trained in the safe administration and effective record keeping. There were no errors or missing signatures on the medication records. They told us that their medication was reviewed regularly and that if there was a problem, the staff responded quickly and the issue was resolved with the GP.

There was a complaints policy that clearly set out the process of making and investigating a complaint. People who used the service told us “if I’m not happy I can talk to any of the staff. I know the manager will sort things out” and “It’s very good here, the staff are very helpful”

People were very anxious about having a person in their home who was unfamiliar to them. Three people did speak with us. Other people living in the home preferred not to. One person told us, “It’s lovely here.” Another said they had no problems and someone else told us, “I’m happy here.”

The atmosphere at the home was calm and relaxed. During the day we observed that people were taking part in activities or carrying out independent tasks. We looked at care records that showed people were involved in planning their care and treatment. We saw that people’s choices were respected and supported by the staff.

We saw that there were processes in place to recruit, train and support staff working in the home.

We saw evidence that services were monitored and reviewed to ensure that people were kept safe and quality standards were maintained.