We spoke to two people who used the service and two family members. People using the service commented that they were happy staying at Greenways but were looking forward to the future.

People told us that the staff team were good and helpful and that they felt safe being there. Family members told us:

"Our relative is in good hands"

"They have met his needs and meet our needs too and provide emotional support"

"We can leave here knowing that our relation is safe in their care"

"They involve us at every step".

We observed care practice and found this to be centred on people's needs and that every effort had been made to achieve this. We found that staff were quick to intervene calmly and safely when they needed to.

The care and welfare of people was promoted with practice being centred on the needs of people. Emphasis was made on involving people in their care and ensuring that they remained healthy. People’s health needs were promoted through the safe management of medication.

We saw that the service provided a safe environment with staff having access to procedures and training to ensure that people were protected from harm. People were further protected by the recruitment of qualified and experienced staff whose suitability to perform their role had been robustly checked. We found that people were encouraged to comment on the support they received. This enabled action to be taken to address issues before they reached the formal complaints stage.

There were five patients receiving assessment and treatment services at the unit when we visited. One of these patients did not want to speak to us and another patient was visiting a potential new placement on the day of the inspection. We spoke to the three remaining patients, all of whom told us that staff at Greenways treated them well. They said they enjoyed going out in the unit’s vehicle, and taking part in the craft activities organised by the staff.

These three patients were not clear of what was in their care plan and did not have a copy. These patients told us they were not sure about plans for leaving, and one patient was not clear about what to do if they had a complaint or had concerns about their care. However, they did say that staff spent time with them helping them with their problems, and asking them how they felt.

When we visited Greenways on the 10 and 12 July 2012 we met all the six patients staying on the unit but we only spoke with two. We were unable to communicate with some of the people due to complex communication needs and others declined to speak to us.

One patient volunteered to give us a guided tour of the unit and showed us their room. They told us that they enjoyed showing people around the unit pointed us to the notice board in their room. They showed us their care plan which was illustrated with pictures and symbols to make it easier to read. They discussed each part of their care plan and told us that their named nurse and other staff were helping them learn new skills such as cooking and baking. They told us that they liked the staff and pointed to the photographs of their named nurse and associate named nurse on their notice board. They told us that these staff helped them with their care plan and plans to move out into the local community when suitable accommodation was found.

The other patient we spoke with told us that they liked Greenways and liked the staff. They told us that they liked cooking their own meals and although they were making cheese on toast for tea the other day they had steak, medium rare. They told us that they had been out on visits to the park for walks and trips out to Blackpool and Southport.

We spoke with relatives of three patients on the telephone. All spoke highly of the staff and the standard of care, treatment and support provided. They told us that communication was good and they were involved in all aspects of care planning and review. One of the relatives we spoke with told us that the staff go to great lengths to ensure that they are kept up to date and were involved in arrangements for care of their relative. They told us that they had seen and agreed the care plans and found that the service was excellent overall. Other relatives also described the service and standard of care provided as excellent. Comments included: “I can not praise them enough, they go beyond the call of duty”, “the service is excellent really” and “we can not fault them, it’s the best place, very efficient, open honest and sincere with us, they are excellent”.