The inspection took place on 26 April 2018 and was unannounced. This was the first inspection of Silverlea Care Home since the provider of the service changed in 2017.

Silverlea 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. Silverlea accommodates up to 35 people in one adapted building spread over three floors. At the time of the inspection, 16 people were living in the home.

A registered manager was 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.

People, relatives and health professionals spoke positively about the way the service was managed. They said people received good care that met individual needs. People and relatives said staff were kind and caring and this was confirmed through our observations of care and support.

However, the service needed to better access and work to recognised guidance in a number of areas to develop the service. For example, some improvements were needed to medicines practices. Improvements were needed to documentation to fully evidence compliance with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA). We made a recommendation in relation to ensure evidence of compliance with the Mental Capacity Act (MCA).

Overall, we found there were enough staff to meet people’s individual needs, although a review of staff deployment at mealtimes was required to ensure people received consistent support. Safe recruitment procedures were in place.

People were protected from abuse living in the home. Risks to people’s health and safety were assessed and plans put in place to help keep people safe. However we identified some safety concerns with the premises which needed addressing.

People’s nutritional needs were assessed and met. Some improvements were needed to the mealtime experience. People’s healthcare needs were assessed and plans put in place to meet their needs. The service worked effectively with a range of health professionals.

People’s independence was promoted and encouraged by the service. People were treated with dignity and respect.

The service was compliant with the requirements of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

People’s care needs were assessed and plans of care put in place. Some of these needed to be more detailed to demonstrate a full assessment of people’s needs had taken place. We made a recommendation regarding ensuring a comprehensive assessment of people’s needs was carried out.

People had access to basic activities living in the home and the service helped people maintain links with the local community.

A system was in place to listen and respond to any complaints.

Checks were undertaken by the service to monitor how it was operating. However these needed making more robust, so they identified a greater range of improvement areas.

Some mechanisms were in place to seek and act on people’s feedback but these were rather limited.

We found one breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities 2014) Regulations. You can see what action we asked the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.