The inspection took place on 19 and 21 December 2016 and was unannounced. This was the first rated inspection of this service since it registered with us in May 2016. This service was previously owned by a different provider.

Riverside Care Centre is registered to provide accommodation and support for 24 people who have a learning disability and who require personal care. On the day of our inspection there were 23 people living in the home. There was no registered manager in post. A manager had recently been appointed and was in the process of applying to register to manage 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 (2008) and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People told us that they were safe within the service. Staff knew how to keep people safe and had been trained in safeguarding people. People received their medicines how it had been prescribed and were able to get pain relief when needed.

The provider had adhered to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards and ensured that people’s human rights were protected. Staff were able to get the support they needed to meet people’s needs and training was made available.

People were supported in a friendly environment that was warm and nice. Staff were caring and kind towards people. People were able to get the appropriate support to be able to share their views on how they were to be supported.

People were able to make choices as to what they had to eat and drink. People’s privacy, dignity and independence was being respected.

People were involved in the assessment and care planning process and were able to access advocate support when needed. However we found that care plans were not consistently kept up to date and reviews were not carried out regularly.

The provider had a complaints process in place that people were aware of and knew how to use to make a complaint.

People were able to share their views on the service they received by completing a quality assurance questionnaire but we could not see that actions were taken in response to feedback given.

We found that spot checks and audits were taking place but they were not being done consistently enough and were not always effective. We found no evidence to show that the provider carried out spot checks on the service people received to ensure the manager was meeting people’s needs how they wanted.