Hillcroft House is a residential care home for up to 43 people living with dementia. On the day of our visit 41 people were accommodated. This care home is part converted and part purpose built. It is within walking distance to Stowmarket town centre.

At the last inspection on 14 October 2015, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

We found a care home that was well run for the benefit of the people who lived there. People spoke highly of the service offered and felt appropriately cared for. People experienced good care with on-going monitoring of health needs and prompt access to health services. Visiting health professionals told us that the service was caring and met the needs of people who lived here. There was varied, needs led social stimulation and people liked the variety and quality of food on offer. Mealtimes were a pleasant experience for everyone.

Staff told us that they had the training and support to carry out their roles effectively and confidently. Staff spoke highly of the management who they said were approachable and made positive changes when needed. Staff were happy and positive. This exuded from some who sang and danced through their working day whilst positively supporting people. This light-heartedness was felt by the people being supported and prompted them to smile and join in. People looked happy and there was a degree of calm and people had purpose to their day.

There were sufficient numbers of staff to meet people needs. People were safeguarded from the potential of harm and their freedoms protected. Staff were provided with training in Safeguarding Adults from abuse, Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). The manager knew how to make a referral if required.

Medicines were safely managed. The manager had oversight and had thorough quality assurance processes in place that were fed up and monitored by the wider organisation. The manager was supported appropriately by the provider and spoke positively about developments and resources being available to them.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

We completed an unannounced inspection of Hillcroft House on 14 October 2015. Hillcroft House Residential Home is registered to provide accommodation for people who require personal care. The service provides places for up to 43 people. At the time of our visit 40 people were resident. This care home is part converted and part purpose built.

There was a registered manager in place and they were present on the day of our inspection. 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.

We found a care home that was well run for the benefit of the people who lived there. Everyone spoke highly of the service offered and felt appropriately cared for. People told us that their needs were assessed, they were involved with their care and were consulted about changes. People experienced good care with on going monitoring of health needs and prompt access to health services. There was varied, needs led social stimulation and people liked the variety and quality of food on offer.

The service did not ensure that there were sufficient quantities of medicines to ensure the safety of service users and meet their needs. Risks associated with medicine management were not mitigated and the service did not maintain securely an accurate, complete and contemporaneous record in respect of each person’s medicines.

Staff had the skill to support people and were well trained. There was a good team approach and collaborative working. Staff felt supported by management and liked where they worked.

Management was open, inclusive and regularly listened to people who used the service. There were systems in place to monitor and respond to events that occurred and feedback from people was used to develop the service further.

You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

We spoke with five people who used the service, four members of staff and two relatives as part of this inspection. A relative told us, “The staff understand my relative’s needs and look after her very well.” We looked at four care plans and found they contained information that was up to date and centred upon individual care needs. We also found the service worked with the people that used the service and family and friends appropriately to gain the person's consent regarding the care that was to be provided.

One person who used the service told us, “I enjoy going out on the bus and today we are going to feed the ducks.” Another person said, “The food is fresh and very cooked.” We saw the menus provided a variety of choice and meals were served in the dining rooms of the service or in the persons room depending upon their choice. We saw there was a variety of activities arranged for every weekday.

We inspected the staffing rota and saw there were sufficient staffing levels for the service across the twenty-four hours of the day. The service was able to cover vacant shifts when they occurred from within their own staffing establishment and hence the staff knew the people that used the service. We also saw the service had a complaints system in place and when complaints were made which was rare they were resolved quickly and to the satisfaction of all involved. The service was working with other providers of care in order to support the service meet the individual care.

We spoke with six people who used the service and observed staff supporting people with activities of daily living. One person told us, “The staff are very good.” Another person said “The staff are kind and do everything I want.” We saw that the service assessed the risk to people’s health, safety and welfare, and that people’s care needs were met. We saw there were good records of the assessments and care provided.

We saw that activities were well planned and were designed around people’s interests and preferences. People told us about the social activities they had taken part in such as a weekly ‘club’ meeting, or making decorations.

Staff were recruited appropriately and received relevant training to meet people’s needs. The service had effective quality assurance systems in place. This meant that they were able to monitor the effectiveness of the service and make improvements as necessary.

We spoke with six people that lived at the home. People told us that their choices were listened to, for example if they wished to participate in activities and what they wanted to eat and drink. They told us that they were always treated with respect and that their privacy was respected. People were complimentary about the environment that they lived in, the staff that worked at the home, the food and the care that they were provided with. People told us that they were provided with an activities programme that was of interest to them, which included activities in the local community.