The inspection took place on 25 July 2017 and was unannounced.

The home provides accommodation for a maximum of 29 people requiring personal care. There were 19 people living at the home when we visited. A registered manager had left their post shortly before we inspected the service, and a new manager had been appointed. 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.

People felt safe around the care staff and supporting them. People knew and liked the care staff and felt able to speak with them whenever they needed. People understand that if they wanted support from care staff they could either press the call bell and a staff member would check on them.

Staff had received training on supporting people to move from one place to another safely. Staff understood how to specialised equipment and had received training and guidance. Staff were able to transfer people safely from one chair to another. Staff took time to keep people engaged and explain to them how they were supporting people.

People’s health needs were understood by care staff. Staff could refer to care plans or a senior member of staff for clarification should they require it of the person’s support needs. Care plans had also been reviewed and updated for people living at the home with people’s most up to date care needs.

Staff recruitment processes included background checks on people. The registered provider had a system in place to assure themselves that staff working were safe to do so. Agency staff they employed to work at the home were regular and understood peoples’ needs.

People received their medicines are prescribed. Staff understood how people preferred support with the medicines and ensured there was adequate stocks in place.

The inspection took place on 17 and 18 January 2017 and was unannounced.

The home provides accommodation for a maximum of 28 people requiring personal care. There were 24 people living at the home when we visited. A registered manager was in post when we inspected the service. 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.

People told us they felt safe living at the home and that staff supported them when they needed help. Staff understood what it meant to keep people healthy and safe from harm. Staff had received training on Safeguarding Adults and felt able to share any concerns. Staffing levels were reviewed regularly. Staff underwent background checks to ensure their suitability for working at the home. People’s medicines were reviewed to ensure they received them as they should.

People were cared for by staff that had access to supervision and training so that could perform their role to the best of their ability. Staff understood what it meant when people could not make decisions for themselves and how they needed to be cared for. People were offered choices in the food and drinks they were offered and enjoyed the meals at the home. People also saw a range of healthcare professionals including GPs, social workers and chiropodists to support them with their health and wellbeing.

People were cared for by staff they liked and felt comfortable around. Staff understood each person’s individual needs and how best to support them. Staff demonstrated patience and empathy towards the people they supported. Staff understood how to care for people with dignity and respect and embedded their understanding in how they helped people. Families felt welcomed at the home and were able to visit whenever they chose to.

People liked and took part in activities on offer at the home. People were given time to pursue individual interests. People were given the opportunity to share their views on the service they received in the home in a number of different ways so that the registered provider could understand if any improvements were needed. Relatives were also consulted. People understood they could complain if they needed to and who they could speak with.

The registered manager was working with staff to improve systems at the home and change some practices. The registered manager had identified some areas where improvements were needed and was working to achieve these. People, families and staff found the registered manager was accessible and willing to talk to them about their care. The registered manager had a detailed knowledge about people’s care and understood how people’s care needed to managed to ensure they had a positive experience at the home.

The inspection took place on 3 February 2015 and was unannounced.

The home provides accommodation for a maximum of 28 people requiring support with dementia.

There were 23 people living at the home when we visited and there was a registered manager in post. 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.

People were positive about the care they received and about the staff who looked after them.

People told us that they felt that felt safe. Staff were able to tell us about how they kept people safe. During our inspection we observed that staff were available to meet people’s care and social needs.

People were well supported by care staff. However, staff were not adequately covering cleaning duties in the cleaner’s absence.

People received their medicines as prescribed and at the correct time and medications were safely administered and stored.

We saw that privacy and dignity were respected.

We found that people’s health care needs were assessed, and care planned and delivered to meet those needs. People had access to other healthcare professionals that provided treatment, advice and guidance to support their health needs and families told us that they felt that further help was sought when needed.

People were supported to eat and drink enough to keep them healthy. People had access to a range of snacks and drinks during the day and had choices at mealtimes. Where people had special dietary requirements we saw that these were provided for.

Staff were provided with training that was continually updated. The registered manager told us that all staff training was regularly reviewed and regular checks were made to ensure that everyone received the right training.

People and staff told us that they would raise concerns with senior staff, the registered manager or the provider and were confident that any concerns would be dealt with.

The manager and care staff received regular training which helped them look after the people they cared for. The manager undertook regular checks to ensure that the quality of the care could be monitored and improvements made where required.

At this inspection we spent time with people who have a diagnosis of dementia to gain their experiences of life in the home. There were 13 people with a diagnosis of dementia out of the 26 people living at Redwood. We spoke with four people, three family members, three staff and the deputy manager. We also looked at some records.

All the people that we spoke with were positive about the care and support provided. One family member said: “They see my mother as an individual and cater for her needs. They give different care to different people depending on what they needed.”

We left comment cards for people to complete if they wished to tell us about their views on the home. We received six completed comment cards with positive comments about care and treatment provided at the home. Comments included: ‘All the staff look after my mother way above what I expected in a safe and professional manner.’ ‘Excellent, I’m so pleased with the care here that I don’t think words can say.’

It was clear from what we saw on the day of our inspection that staff knew people’s social and health care needs. This was demonstrated in the individual support people received from staff. What we saw matched the care plans that were personal to each person and written with and for people with dementia.

We saw positive interactions between staff and people with lots of chatter and laughter during the day with staff helping people make simple everyday decisions. There were arrangements in place where required to help people with large decisions. For example, professionals and people’s representatives were consulted so that their best interests and rights were upheld.

We saw that the provider had effective systems in place that made sure staff training was planned and delivered including dementia awareness. This meant staff knew how to provide care and support to people with dementia care needs.

We found the service was well led. The provider ensured positive outcomes for people with dementia were continually developed, reviewed and improved upon when needed.

24 people were living at the home when we inspected. We talked with four of them as well as four people who were visiting a relative. We also spoke with the registered manager and three staff.

The people we spoke with told us they were happy with the home and the staff. One person told us: “I like it here. The girls are so kind.” Another person said: “I’m perfectly happy here.”

One of the visitors said: “X (their relative) has been much better since she's been here.” Another visitor told us they were pleased with the care their relative received and said: “I can’t fault it, I’ve got no complaints.”

Staff knew about the needs of the people they were caring for. We looked at care records for two people and found that these contained guidance for staff on how to meet their needs. We saw that people’s needs were reviewed regularly.

People told us that they felt safe living at the home and knew who to speak to if they had any concerns. Staff had been trained how to recognise signs of abuse and knew how to report concerns.

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

People were cared for by suitably qualified, skilled and experienced staff.

There was a system in place for people to make complaints if they were not happy with any aspect of the service. We noted that the service had not received any formal complaints during the last 12 months.

One the day of our visit we spoke with 11 people who used the service and some visiting relatives. We carried out observations in the communal areas of the home.

People expressed their views and care workers were seen to ask and involve people in making choices. We saw that people were helped to make a choice of where to sit and what activity they would like to be involved in. One person we spoke with told us “I like the activities, plenty of laughter, must be good”. One person we spoke with told us that “the priest visits me on a Tuesday if he’s not busy” and “I get my daily newspaper”.

One person we spoke with knew about their care and welfare needs and had been aware of what they could and could not do themselves. They told us that they had spoken with staff about what they could safely do on their own and what they needed help with.

There were no restrictions to the communal areas of the home and people could access the outside grounds with help from staff. People told us that they felt care workers knew how to look after them. One person told us “they support me” and another person told us “they always seem happy”.