This inspection took place on 19 November 2015 and was unannounced. This was the first inspection of the service.

Eden House is a care home for older people and people who live with dementia, and has been open for one year. The provider is Christadelphian Care Homes. The provider had two homes in Warwickshire which they decided to close when Eden House, a new purpose built care home, opened. Eden House accommodates a maximum of 35 people in the home, and has 18 assisted living apartments. All people who lived in the two homes which closed, were re-located to Eden House.

The home has a registered manager. 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 2014 about how the service is run.

Staff mostly understood safeguarding policies and procedures, and understood how to minimise any identified risks to people’s health and social care.

Medicines were mostly managed safely to ensure people received their prescribed medicines at the right time. Systems were in place to ensure medicines were ordered on time and stored safely in the home.

The provider had sufficient staff to meet people’s needs. The move to Eden House had caused some instability with staff continuity however this had mostly been addressed. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to work well with people who lived at the home. This was due to an effective induction and ongoing staff training. There was a strong volunteer workforce which supported paid staff who worked in the home.

Checks were carried out prior to staff and volunteers starting work at Eden House to ensure their suitability to work with people in the home.

Staff respected and acted upon people’s decisions. Where people did not have capacity to make informed decisions, ‘best interest’ decisions were taken on the person’s behalf. This meant the service was adhering to the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

The provider was meeting the requirements of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and had followed the advice of the local authority DoLS team. The provider had referred people to the local authority for an assessment when they thought the person’s freedom was restricted.

People enjoyed the meals provided, had good choice of food and sufficient to eat and drink. Their individual nutritional needs were well supported.

Where changes in people’s health were identified, they were referred promptly to other healthcare professionals.

People and visitors to the home were positive about the care provided by staff. During our visit we observed staff being caring to people, and saw a lot of laughter. Staff supported people’s privacy and dignity well.

Group and individualised activities were provided by the Eden House ‘well-being’ team. The team worked with people to ensure all people who lived at the home were provided with activities that met their interests and needs.

People who lived at Eden House, their relatives, and staff, felt able to speak with management and share their views about the service. Complaints were responded to appropriately.

The management team had the confidence of staff. They were seen as open and supportive. The team and staff had gone through a challenging year as a result of moving people and staff from two other care homes. They had supported both through the changes, and were moving into a period of stability.