The inspection took place on 27 March 2018 and was unannounced. This was the first inspection of the service since it had been registered in May 2017.

The home is one of two care homes owned by Instant Care Solutions that supports people with mental health needs. 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. At the time of our inspection seven out of a maximum capacity of nine people were living at the service.

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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

During the inspection we found the provider had procedures in place to protect people from abuse. Staff we spoke with knew how to respond to safeguarding concerns. People had risk assessments and management plans in place to minimise risks.

Medicines were managed safely and staff had appropriate training. As the service had only been open a year, all staff had medicines competency testing within the last year when they were trained and inducted, but any medicines competency testing since the training had not been written down even though the registered manager told us they were undertaking this task. They agreed to keep written records of competency testing and observations in future. Weekly medicines audits indicated that people were receiving their medicines safely and as prescribed.

Staff had completed training in infection control and food hygiene so they could reduce infections and cross contamination.

Staff had up to date relevant training, supervision and annual appraisals to develop the necessary skills to support people using the service. Safe recruitment procedures were followed to ensure staff were suitable to work with people and we saw there were enough staff to meet the needs of people using the service.

People's dietary and health needs had been assessed and recorded so any dietary or nutritional needs could be met.

The service worked well with other professionals and we saw evidence that people were supported to maintain healthier lives and access healthcare services appropriately.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff were responsive to individual needs and preferences.

We observed people were treated with respect, were involved in planning their care and made their own day to day decisions. Care plans contained the required information to give staff guidelines to effectively care for people in their preferred manner.

There was a complaints procedure in place, however the service had not had any complaints in the last year.

Feedback indicated the service fostered an open culture and positive communication. People using the service and staff told us the registered manager was available and listened to them.

The service had a number of systems in place to monitor, manage and improve service delivery to improve the care and support provided to people. This included a complaints system, service audits and satisfaction surveys.