Primroses Home is a ‘care home’, specifically caring for adults under 65 years of age with mental health conditions. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. This service is registered to provide a service for three people.

We inspected the service on 06 June 2018 and this was their first inspection since they registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

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.

Safeguarding procedures were in place and staff demonstrated a clear understanding of what abuse was and how to safely report any concerns. The service had detailed, person centred care plans and risk assessments in place to guide staff to best support people using the service, including their skin management and personal care plans. A recommendation was made to include more detail about people’s mental health to ensure staff were understanding of how best to support people receiving support and manage risk.

Pre-employment checks had been carried out to ensure staff were suitable to support vulnerable adults and staffing levels were sufficient, which allowed the service to meet people’s needs. Medicines were managed safely. A recommendation was made about record keeping to ensure staff could safely audit people’s medicines. Infection control was being managed in a safe way and staff were provided with personal protective equipment to prevent the spread of cross infection.

The service completed pre-assessments to gather information about people’s needs and ensure it was able to meet those needs. Records and observations showed that the staff worked in a person-centred way and there was clear evidence of organisations working together to deliver safe and effective care. People had choices around their meals. A weekly menu was prepared with people and they could review this each day. There was evidence of healthy food on the menu and in the fridge.

Records confirmed that staff had completed training and received an induction to allow them to provide high quality support. A recommendation was made to ensure all staff had completed training specifically on mental health to ensure they could support the people receiving care in line with best practice.

Staff understood the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). MCA is law protecting people who are unable to make decisions for themselves. People who had capacity to consent to their care had signed their care plans and risk assessments and where consent was not applicable, the appropriate authorisation procedures had been completing following a recommendation. These are referred to as the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

Staff were observed to deliver personalised care to people and demonstrated an understanding of their individual needs. Records were written in a person-centred way and detailed people’s individual preferences and support needs. All people received a welcome booklet that gave information about the service, what to expect and who they could talk to about any concerns.

The service was due to run weekly forums for people to feedback about the service. People were observed to be able to approach staff at any time for emotional and practical support and staff were seen to be caring. Advocacy services were available to help people have their views and wishes heard. Staff demonstrated an understanding around equality and diversity and how to maintain people’s privacy, dignity and independence. Records were treated confidentially and stored securely a