Minster Grange Home provides residential support and care for up to 26 older people. At the time of our inspection there were 24 people living at the home. At the last inspection, in September 2015, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found that the service remained Good

People continued to receive safe care and there were enough staff to provide support and care to meet people’s needs. People were protected from the risk of harm. People received their medicines as prescribed. Staff were suitably recruited to ensure they were able to work with people who lived at the home.

People made decisions about their care and staff sought people’s consent. Where people lacked capacity they were helped to make decisions. Where their liberty was restricted, this had been identified and action taken to ensure this was lawful. People received supported to stay well and had access to health care services. They were able to choose what to eat. Staff received training to meet the specific needs of people who lived at the home.

People were treated with dignity and respect. People were asked their preferences about how they wanted to be supported and cared for. These details were recorded in people’s care plans including their end of life wishes.

People were involved in the planning and review of their care and support. Staff went the extra mile to ensure people had a variety of things to do for fun and interest. People knew how to make a complaint or raise a concern.

Systems were in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service. People and staff were encouraged to raise any views about the service about how improvements could be made. The registered manager promoted an open culture which put people at the centre of the service.

This inspection took place on 12 August 2015 and was unannounced. Minster Grange provides accommodation and personal care for up to 26 older people. There were 24 people who were living at Minster Grange on the day of our visit. The home has 16 private rooms and five shared rooms. People had their own en-suite facilities along with access to three communal bathrooms, with specialist baths. The communal areas of the home consisted of a lounge, dining room and a quiet lounge. People had access to gardens that surrounded the home.

There was a registered manager in place at the time 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.

People lived in a safe environment as staff knew how to protect people from harm. We found that staff recognised signs of abuse and knew how to report this. Staff made sure risk assessments were in place and took actions to minimise risks without taking away people’s right to make decisions.

There were sufficient staff on duty to meet people’s needs. People told us that staff helped them when they needed assistance. Regular reviews of people’s care and deployment of staff meant staffing levels were reviewed and reflected the needs of people who lived there.

People’s medicines were administered and managed in a safe way.

People received care and support that met their needs and preferences. Care and support was provided to people with their consent and agreement. Staff understood and recognised the importance of this. We found people were supported to eat a healthy balanced diet and were supported with enough fluids to keep them healthy. We found that people had access to healthcare professionals, such as the dentist and their doctor.

We saw that people were involved in the planning around their care. People’s views and decisions they had made about their care were listened and acted upon. People told us that staff treated them kindly, with dignity and their privacy was respected.

We found that people knew how to make a complaint and felt comfortable to do this should they feel they needed to. Where the provider had received complaints, these had been responded to. While there were no patterns to the complaints, learning had been taken from complaints received and actions were put into place to address these.

The registered manager demonstrated clear leadership. Staff were supported to carry out their roles and responsibilities effectively. We also found that communications had been encouraged between people and staff, which improved the effectiveness and responsiveness of the care provided to people.

We found that the checks the registered manager completed focused upon the experiences people received. Where areas for improvement were identified, systems were in place to ensure that lessons were learnt and used to improve staff practice.

When we carried out this inspection 22 people used the service.

While at Minster Grange we spoke with the registered manager and the deputy manager. We spoke with five members of staff and five people who used the service. We spoke with three relatives of people who used the service while they visited the home.

We observed how staff interacted with people. We saw that staff spoke with people in a respectful manner. We observed that people appeared relaxed and comfortable with the care provided. Comments from people who used the service included: “I am happy with the quality of care. I feel safe here” and: “You are looked after here. It’s like home from home.” Comments from relatives included: “Very impressed with the care” and: “We think it is very good”.

We looked at the care records for three people and found that their needs had been assessed. The records showed that care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with people’s individual needs. Staff told us that they were aware of each person’s needs and how to give care and support to meet these needs.

We found that the equipment that was used in the home was maintained appropriately and that staff had been trained in its use.

Staff had been recruited in an appropriate way and checks had been undertaken to make sure that they were suitable to care for people who used the service.

Staff were trained and received support through staff supervision. This made sure that all staff had suitable skills so they provided consistent care to people who used the service.

There were 26 people who used the service at the time of our inspection.

While at Minister Grange we saw that care workers were being courteous and respectful towards people who used the service. Staff spoke about how they upheld people’s privacy and dignity and generally this was seen to happen.

Care plans, risk assessments and other records were in place to give staff guidance and direction about the level of care required to meet individual needs.

Information on safeguarding was available for people in the home including members of staff. Staff training records were available and it was evident that they had an understanding of their responsibilities in the event of them becoming aware or suspecting actual or potential abusive events.

Systems were in place to ensure recruitment procedures were implemented to carry out checks on potential staff members before they commenced work at the home.

Systems were in place to assess and monitor the quality of care provided and as a means to identifying any improvements that were needed.