The Red House is a nursing home for 23 older people some of who may be living with dementia The home is in the centre of Stamford and is set over two floors. There is a lift to the second floor. There were 22 people living at the home on the day of our inspection.

There was a new manager at the home. They had been working at the home since 1 December 2017.

At our last inspection we rated the home good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the home has not changed since our last inspection.

At this inspection we found the home remained Good.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the home supported this practice.

Staff were kind and caring and had developed good relationships with people. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and staff received ongoing training and support so that they knew how to care for people safely and kept up to date with changes in legislation and best practice. They were also supported with regular staff meetings so that they could discuss any improvements needed. The manager ensured that staff were safe to work with the people living at the home.

Risks to people had been identified and care was planned to keep people safe. Records accurately recorded the care that people needed and were kept up to date as people’s needs changed. Medicines were safely administered and people were supported to eat safely and maintain a healthy weight. People’s wishes for their end of their lives had been recorded and people were supported to have a dignified pain free death.

People were involved in planning their care and were encouraged to do as much as possible for themselves. Their likes and dislikes were recorded so that care could be tailored to their individual needs. People’s privacy and dignity were respected. Activities provided helped people to stay engaged with their lives and helped to orientate them to the time of year.

The manager was supportive and approachable. There were effective audits in place which ensured that the care provided was monitored and any concerns identified were corrected in a timely manner.

The Red House provides accommodation for up to 23 people who require nursing or personal care. The service mainly provides support for older people and people who are living with dementia.

The accommodation is arranged over two floors and there is a passenger lift to assist people to get to the upper floor. The service has 11 single bedrooms and five double rooms, which two people can choose to share. There were 20 people living at the service at the time of our inspection.

At the time of our inspection the home did not have 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The service did have a manager in post who had started at the service in July 2014. They have commenced the application process to become registered with the commission.

The Care Quality Commission is required by law to monitor how a provider applies the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and to report on what we find. DoLS are in place to protect people where they do not have capacity to make decisions and where it is considered necessary to restrict their freedom in some way. This is usually to protect themselves. At the time of our inspection no people had had their freedom restricted.

People who lived in the service were happy with the care they received. People said felt safe living in the service and that staff treated them with kindness and respected their privacy and dignity.

There were enough staff on duty to meet people’s needs. We found that action had been taken by the manager to increase the staffing levels during the evening period to reflect the needs of people who lived in the service.

Robust arrangements for ordering, storing, administering and disposing of medicines were in place.

People were provided with a choice of nutritious meals. When necessary, people were given extra help to make sure that they had enough to eat and drink.

Staff understood people’s needs, wishes and preferences and they had been trained to provide effective and safe care which met people’s individual needs.

The service was recruiting a new member of staff to provide social activities for people and assist people in enjoying their hobbies and interests. People had been assisted to continue to access local community resources.

People and their relatives were able to raise any issues or concerns and action was taken to address them.

People had access to a range of healthcare professionals when they required specialist help.

People had been consulted about the development of the service.

The manager had completed quality checks to make sure that people reliably received the care they needed in a safe setting.

There was an open culture that encouraged staff to speak out if they had any concerns.