The inspection took place on the 8 September 2016 and was announced.

Gryphon Place provides care for up to seven people. Gryphon Place is a nursing home which supports people who have complex neurological conditions. The home was purpose built offering accommodation over two floors with a large garden.

There was a manager in place who had started the process to become the 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 a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People benefited from being supported by staff who had worked at the service a long time, they were safely recruited and well trained. Staff felt supported in their work by their colleagues and by the manager. There was consistently enough staff to safely meet people’s individual needs.

Staff understood how to protect people from the risk of abuse and knew the procedure for reporting any concerns. Medicines were administered safely and adherence to best practice was consistently applied. People received their medicines on time, safely and in the manner the prescriber intended. The service regularly audited the administration of medicines. Medicines were stored securely.

Staff knew and understood the needs of people living at Gryphon Place. People received care which was person centred, the service knew the people they supported.

Staff received yearly appraisals. Staff also had regular supervisions. The manager observed practice and was involved in the daily running of the service.

Staff told us they were happy working at Gryphon Place. Staff were committed and dedicated to the service. They assisted people with kindness and compassion. People’s dignity and privacy was maintained and respected. People were treated as individuals. People’s wishes and what was important to them was promoted by staff and the manager.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is required to monitor the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and report on what we find. The service was depriving some people of their liberty in order to provide necessary care and to keep them safe. The service had made applications for authorisation to the local authority DoLS team. The service was working within the principles of the MCA. The manager and the staff had a good knowledge of the MCA and DoLS.

People’s care plans contained important, relevant and detailed information to assist staff in meeting people’s individual needs. People’s needs were regularly reviewed.

People were supported to maintain good health and wellbeing. The service responded proactively to changes in people’s health and social care needs.

The service encouraged people to maintain relationships with people who were important to them. Relatives felt involved and part of the service. There were planned activities on most days to support people to maintain their interests. The service had worked creatively to stimulate and spark people’s interests. However, the service understood they needed to develop this further.

There was a positive, open culture at Gryphon Place. The service was bright, welcoming and friendly. There were also effective systems in place to monitor the quality of the service.

On the day of our inspection six people were living in Gryphon Place. We spoke with three members of staff, one person who used the service and a relative of another person.

The provider had developed a range of policies which showed that they had taken steps to uphold the privacy, dignity and independence of people who used the service. These included policies on autonomy and choice. We read the care records for four people who used the service. In each case there was evidence to show that people, their relatives or their representatives had taken part in assessments, care planning and reviews.

Gryphon Place had a programme of activities. On the day of our inspection we saw people enjoying a bingo session in the morning and karaoke singing in the afternoon. Other activities included shopping trips and film shows. We saw people spending time in the gardens during our inspection. The gardens had won the provider’s national award for the ‘Best Residents’ Garden 2013.’ One person told us “I was chuffed when we won.”

Staff members we spoke with told us that they had not experienced any abusive situations, or been concerned about potential abuse, during their employment at Gryphon Place. Policies were in place to safeguard people from the risk of abuse. There were sufficient numbers of skilled staff to meet the needs of the people who used the service. A relative we spoke with told us that care was “…excellent in every way, from food to medical to cleanliness.”

As we were unable to speak with many of the people using this service during this inspection, to help us understand people’s experiences we used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a specific way of observing care to help us understand the experiences of people who could not talk with us. We found that all staff interactions were appropriate and positive. For example, we saw staff including people in choices and communicating with people in a way which enabled them to make choices about their care.

One person we did speak with told us that they “liked” living at Gryphon Place and that they were “well looked after”. They told us that they were able to decide what they would like to do and that the staff were always very helpful.

Our observations of the home demonstrated to us that it was clean, free from any unpleasant odours and that infection control practices were in place. For example, we observed staff wearing disposable gloves and aprons.

We found that the appropriate checks were undertaken before staff began work to ensure that only suitably vetted people were employed to work with vulnerable adults.

We noted that the provider had an effective complaints policy and procedure in place and that people's records were kept safely and accurately maintained.

During our visit we spoke with several people who live in the home. They told us that the care was very good and that staff were kind and knowledgeable.

One person with whom we spoke stated that, “They (staff) are very good to me. They cannot do more. I can tell them what I want them to do for me”. They also told us that they felt safe at Gryphon Place and trusted staff to deal with their medication.

Another person told us, “They (staff) come when we call them”. They explained that they simply call staff from the corridor, as they constantly walk by. They told us that they were respected and listened to and that they could stay in bed or walk around when they want.

Two people in the living room were reading newspapers and putting together a jigsaw puzzle with a staff member present most of the time. They told us that carers were good, that food was good and that they felt protected.