We inspected this service on 3 and 6 July 2017. The first day of the inspection was unannounced.

Highbury Residential Home is a 27 bedded residential home for older people, some of whom have dementia. On the first day of our inspection there were 21 people using the service. This was the first inspection of the service since the provider changed their legal entity in October 2016.

The service had 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 about how the service is run.

People were protected from the risk of fire. Action had been taken when it had been identified that fire safety precautions were not adequate to prevent harm in case of a fire. Safety checks had been carried out on the environment and the equipment used for people’s care to ensure that they were safe.

There were enough suitably trained, supported and competent staff to meet people’s needs.

Staff understood how to support people to remain safe and measures were in place to prevent avoidable harm.

People received their medicines as prescribed by their doctors. Their health needs were met and if required they were supported to access health professionals. People enjoyed their meals and had enough to eat and drink.

People were supported in line with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2015.

People’s independence was promoted and people were encouraged to make choices. Staff treated people with kindness and compassion. Dignity and respect for people was promoted. People were supported to pursue activities of interest to them if they wanted to.

The care needs of people had been assessed and were regularly reviewed to ensure they continued to be met. Staff had a clear understanding of their role and how to support people who used the service.

People were given opportunities to feedback about the service they received. People and staff felt that the registered manager was approachable and action would be taken to address any concerns they may have.

Systems were in place to measure the quality of care delivered. The registered manager had a good over sight of the service.

Staff were clear on their role, the expectations of them and the aims and objectives of the service. Where necessary the provider’s disciplinary procedures had been implemented.

The registered manager was aware of their responsibility to report events that occurred within the service to CQC and external agencies.