The inspection took place on 15 June 2017 and was unannounced.

A registered manager had recently left the home. A new manager had been recruited by the provider and was in the process of registering with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Knowle Gate Care Home provides accommodation and personal care for up to 60 older people who live with dementia. 46 people were living at the home at the time of our inspection and most of those people lived with dementia.

The home is situated in Solihull, West Midlands. Communal areas in the home included large spacious lounge areas, dining rooms, a room where people could follow their interests and hobbies, a bistro and a cinema room. The home also had large well maintained gardens.

A month before our visit the provider of the home had changed. A plan was in place to manage the change. People were satisfied with home was run. Some staff told us they were looking forward to working with the new provider. Others felt apprehensive about the changes. The future leadership at the home had been discussed with staff and they assured us they had had the opportunity to attend team meetings and ask questions which had made them feel more supported and involved.

People felt safe and were happy living at the home. Procedures were in place to protect people from harm. Staff understood their responsibilities to keep people safe and were confident to raise any concerns with their managers. They understood the risks to people's individual health and wellbeing and risks were clearly recorded in people’s records. Our discussions with staff demonstrated a consistent approach to the management of risks. Detailed plans were in place to ensure people would receive continuity of care if an unexpected event occurred such as, fire.

Accident and incident records were completed. The provider had implemented a new system to analyse the records each month to identify any patterns or trends to reduce further incidents occurring. Equipment was checked by staff and external contractors to make sure it was safe to use.

The provider's recruitment procedures minimised, as far as possible, the risks to people safety. There were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff to meet people's needs.

New staff were provided with effective support when they first started work at the home. People and their relatives told us staff had the skills and knowledge they needed to care for them. Staff completed training and demonstrated an in-depth knowledge of people’s care and treatment needs. They were skilled and confident in their practice. We saw staff put their learning into practice and offered reassurance and comfort to people throughout our visit.

The staff demonstrated an understanding of the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) so that they could ensure peoples' rights were being protected. The managers understood their responsibility to comply with these requirements. For people who were assessed as not having the capacity to make all of their own decisions, records showed their families and health care professionals were involved in making decisions in their best interests. Staff always obtained people's consent before they provided care and support.

Most of the people we spoke with provided positive feedback about the food and dining experiences at the home. Mealtime experiences were enjoyable for people and they received a varied and nutritious diet. Staff demonstrated good understanding of people’s nutritional needs and people had opportunities to plan food menus in partnership with the chef. Medicines were stored safely and