About the service: Keele Crescent Care Home is a care home that provides personal care for up to 6 people, some of whom are living with dementia. At the time of the inspection 5 people lived at the service. Most people lived there permanently, and some people spent short periods there to provide respite to their main carers. The home was established over two floors with communal areas on the ground floor.

People’s experience of using this service: Medicines were not always administered when they were required. We saw that some medicines were out of stock and were not available when required and that this had happened on a number of occasions. This meant that people were placed at risk from potential harm that was avoidable. The registered manager was taking steps to ensure that this did not happen in future.

We found staff were knowledgeable about the support needs of people in their care. We observed staff providing support to people throughout our inspection visit. We saw that staff were very thoughtful in their approach to people.

People we spoke with gave positive feedback about the home and the staff who worked in it. They told us that the staff supported people well. We saw that warm, positive relationships with people were apparent and one person described the staff as "Like friends – they care about me”

The registered manager understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). This meant they were working within the law to support people who may lack capacity to make their own decisions.

The food served at the home was of a very high standard. Everyone we spoke with told us that they enjoyed the food and we saw that it was plentiful and good quality.

Care plans were clearly recorded. They detailed how people wished and needed to be cared for. They were regularly reviewed and updated as required. We saw that relatives were involved in supporting staff to understand how people wished to be cared for. There were many activities provided at the home and people told us that they enjoyed them.

The registered manager and the provider used a variety of methods to assess and monitor the quality of the service. These included regular audits of the service and staff meetings to seek the views of staff about the service. They also regularly spoke with the people who lived in the home.

More information is in the detailed findings below.

We identified one breach of the Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 around safe care and treatment. Details of action we have asked the provider to take can be found at the end of this report.

Rating at last inspection: This was the first inspection of the service.

Why we inspected: This was the first inspection of this service.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme.