The inspection took place on 25 April 2018 and was unannounced. This was the first inspection of this service for the provider, Ashmere Derbyshire Limited.

Smalley Hall Care Home is a residential care home for 26 older people, some of whom are living with dementia. It 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 the inspection there were 18 people using the service.

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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People felt safe living with the home and had developed respectful relationships with the staff who were kind and caring in their approach. Risks were identified and plans were in place to mitigate these. Staff recognised people’s rights to take responsible risks and supported people’s decisions.

There were enough staff to support people and staff were recruited to ensure that they were safe to work with people. People received the right medicines at the right time and medicines were handled and managed safely. Staff maintained safe infection control procedures and lessons were learnt when mistakes happened.

People’s privacy and dignity were respected and they were supported to be as independent as possible. People were supported to maintain relationships with people that were important to them and visitors were welcomed at the home. People took part in activities that interested them in the home and when going out.

People’s care was reviewed to ensure that it reflected how they wanted to be supported. People could raise any concerns or complaints; people were confident their concerns were acted on as the staff and registered manager were approachable listened to what they wanted to say.

Staff were provided with opportunities to develop the skills and knowledge to provide care for people and they knew people well. People had a choice of what to eat and drink and were happy with the choices available. People made everyday decisions about their care and staff helped them to understand the information they needed to make. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and processes in place for people to express their views and opinions about the service provided. The registered manager reviewed how the service was managed to raise standards and to drive improvement within the home. They understood the requirements of their registration with us and kept us informed us important events that happened at the service.