The inspection, which was the first inspection of the service since coming under new ownership, took place on 7 and 11 May 2018 and was unannounced.

Hailey House is a ‘care home’. 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. The care home accommodates up to 20 older people. At the time of the inspection, there were 14 people living at the service.

Hailey House is a large detached house situated in a quiet residential area in Maldon, close to all amenities. The premises are set out on two floors and there are adequate communal facilities available for people to make use of within the service.

A registered manager was 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 were protected from harm by staff who had been trained in how to safeguard people from the risk of abuse and understood their responsibilities to report any concerns.

Risks to people had been identified and assessed and management plans were in place to minimise risk whilst at the same time protecting people's rights and freedom. Staff demonstrated a good awareness of the risks to people and knew what to do to keep people safe.

Medicines were stored, administered and disposed of safely and were only administered by staff who had been trained and assessed as competent. Improvements were required in managing the stock control of people's medicines. Since our inspection these improvements have now been implemented.

Robust systems for the safe recruitment of staff were in place and there was sufficient staff deployed to safely meet people’s needs.

Staff had access to regular training to support them to develop the skills and knowledge to be competent in their role. Staff were supported through supervision, observations and appraisals to monitor their performance and identify gaps in knowledge and any training needs.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The service supported people to have enough to eat and drink which met their needs and preferences. People were supported to access healthcare services promptly to help them maintain their health and wellbeing.

Staff were kind and caring, listened to people and treated them with courtesy. Communication between staff and people was warm, friendly and respectful. Visitors were made welcome at the service so that people could maintain relationships that were important to them.

The service included people in planning their care and support to ensure that care was provided the way people wanted. Staff had worked at the service for a long time and knew people well. Staff could describe people's routines and preferences and understood how to provide person-centred care.

Consideration had been given to people’s cultural and religious preferences.

We made a recommendation about greater consideration of equality and diversity.

People had access to activities both within the service and in the community which reflected their interests and preferences. The service had formed links with the local community groups and businesses to support people to feel socially included.

The service worked in partnership with health professionals to ensure that peoples end of life care needs were well met, including pain management. However, staff had not received any formal training in how to support people at the end of their life.

We made a recommendation about training for staff in end