The inspection took place on 8 and 12 November 2018. The inspection was unannounced. The home was registered in December 2017. Prior to this, it had been registered alongside the adjoining rehabilitation unit and inspected together. This was the first inspection of the home under the current registration arrangement. The home is split in to Saffron and Orchard Court. All areas of the home care for people with dementia, though Orchard Court provides support for people with higher clinical needs. There are also self contained flats on the first floor of the home for people living independently. People in these flats could access care packages from the staff at the home, when needed. At the time of our inspection, there was minimal personal care being carried out for people living in these flats.

Saffron Gardens is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

At the time of our inspection there wasn’t a registered manager in place. 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. Plans were implemented immediately to recruit a new registered manager and shortly after our inspection we were informed that a successful candidate had been found for the post.

The service was outstanding in its responsiveness to people’s individual needs. There was a strong person centred culture and staff understood the needs of people they supported exceptionally well. There was a wellbeing team leading activities and a member of staff was employed in the role of homemaker to enable more quality time to be spent with people.

The service was safe. There were sufficient numbers of staff employed to meet people’s needs safely. The provider had recently created a ‘twilight shift’ to help manage people’s needs at a busy time in the evening when they were preparing for bed. People received support with the medicines when they needed them; they were stored safely.

Staff were kind and caring. Our observations throughout the inspection showed that positive relationships had been formed between people and staff. This was confirmed through feedback from people and their relatives. People were treated with dignity and respect and there was a pleasant atmosphere throughout our visit.

Nursing staff were knowledgeable about people’s health needs and managed them well. Staff worked with healthcare professionals to ensure people received good care. People were supported nutritionally; their weight was monitored and action taken when there were concerns. People who needed support at mealtime received this from staff who were patient and kind. Staff told us they were well trained and received regular supervision. They felt able to approach senior staff with any issues or concerns.

At the time of our inspection there wasn’t a registered manager in place; however this had only been for a short period and the provider had acted promptly to recruit to the post. The head of clinical excellence was supporting the service through this time and a senior nurse had been brought over from another home within the organisation to support the home. There were systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service; this included gathering feedback from people and their relatives..