This inspection was announced and took place on the 5th, 6th and 11th September 2017.

Ryfields Village was previously inspected in May 2016. During the inspection we found breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. We found gaps in the agency's quality assurance system. Furthermore, we found that people were not adequately protected from the risks associated with unsafe medicines management.

At this inspection we found that the registered provider had taken action to address the breaches identified at the last inspection.

Ryfields Village was developed in partnership with Warrington Borough Council, Arena Housing Association and Extracare Charitable Trust. The Village is a housing scheme that is situated in Orford, Warrington. It was purpose built in 2002 and is fully accessible to people with mobility needs. There are 243 properties in total (226 apartments and 17 bungalows).

The complex is equipped with a range of facilities for people to access such as health suite; hairdressing salon; restaurant; jacuzzi; licensed bar and coffee bar; craft and hobby room; village hall; shop; IT suite and laundry. A large accessible car park is located at the front of the building.

Warrington Community Living (the provider) is responsible for the provision of the regulated activity

'personal care' to approximately 52 people with a broad spectrum of needs.

At the time of the inspection there was a registered manager at Ryfields Village. 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.

The management team and staff working within the service were passionate about their roles and responsibilities and demonstrated a commitment to the ongoing development of the service provided at Ryfields. Feedback received from people using the service was generally positive and confirmed the service was focussed on the delivery of person centred care.

Records relating to the assessment of individual needs, care planning and risk management were in place to ensure the care and support needs of people using the service were identified and planned for.

Changes had been made to improve the management of medicines and staff understood the importance of promoting people’s healthcare and good nutritional intake.

People using the service confirmed they were treated with dignity and respect, encouraged to maintain their independence and to exercise choice and control over their lives.

The registered provider had taken the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act into account and staff had received training in the Mental Capacity Act and understood the principles associated with it.

Staff received training and supervision appropriate to their role. Recruitment was robust with checks in place to ensure that new members of staff were suitable to support people using the service.

Systems had been developed to ensure the quality of the service was monitored and subject to continuous improvement, to ensure complaints were listened to and acted upon and to safeguard people using the service from abuse.

Notifications required by law of any adverse events within the service were always sent to us and the rating from our last visit was put on prominent display.

This inspection was announced and took place on the 16 and 18 May 2016.

This was the first inspection of Ryfields Village following a change of service provider. The new provider (Warrington Community Living) had only been responsible for the service for seven months having taken it over from a previous provider who had relinquished the contract.

Ryfields Village was developed in partnership with Warrington Borough Council, Arena Housing Association and Extracare Charitable Trust. The Village is a housing scheme that is situated in Orford, Warrington. It was purpose built in 2002 and is fully accessible to people with mobility needs. There are 243 properties in total (226 apartments and 17 bungalows).

The complex is equipped with a range of facilities for people to access such as health suite; hairdressing salon; restaurant; jacuzzi and steam room; licensed bar and coffee bar; craft and hobby room; village hall; shop; IT suite and laundry. A large accessible car park is located at the front of the building.

Warrington Community Living (the provider) is responsible for the provision of the regulated activity ‘personal care’ to approximately 49 people with a broad spectrum of needs.

At the time of the inspection there was a registered manager at Ryfields Village. 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.

During our inspection of Ryfields Village we were supported by the registered manager, newly appointed service manager (who was in the process of registering with the CQC), an acting service manager and an organisational development manager. The Chief Executive Officer also attended during day two of our inspection to answer questions and provide the inspection team with updated information on strategic, operational and human resource issues. All of the senior management team engaged positively in the inspection process and were helpful and supportive.

People told us that staff were generally polite and attentive in the way they undertook their duties. People were keen to emphasise the benefits of receiving individualised support at Ryfields Village. People also highlighted how the service had helped them to feel secure, maintain their wellbeing, preferred lifestyle and identity within a community setting.

During this inspection we found breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take as the back of the full version of the report.

We found gaps in the agency’s quality assurance system. Furthermore, we found that people were not adequately protected from the risks associated with unsafe medicines management.

Satisfactory recruitment and selection procedures were in place which met the requirements of the current regulations and offered protection for people receiving care and support from the provider.

Staff understood the importance of promoting healthcare and good nutritional intake and hydration within the context of person-centred care and respecting people’s rights to choose what they eat and drink.

Systems had been developed to ensure complaints were listened to and acted upon and to safeguard vulnerable people from abuse. Although incidents of abuse had been referred to the local authority’s safeguarding team, the provider had failed to notify CQC via the statutory notification process. We have written to the provider regarding their failure to notify the CQC.