St Brendan’s Care Home is a residential home. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. St. Brendan’s does not provide people residing at the location with nursing care. Any specific support of nursing or medical nature is provided by the local GP and district nurses.

The service provides accommodation for a maximum of 62 people across four floors. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting 45 people with a range of physical support needs. Each floor is adapted to meet people’s specific needs. For example, the ground floor is designed to meet the needs of people living with dementia. Reminiscence areas were developed, with themed corridors. Signage was used, as were memory boxes to help direct people to areas.

The service was registered on 20 September 2017 and this was the first inspection.

The service was exceptionally responsive and strove to meet people’s needs, wishes and lifestyle choices. It was flexible and quickly adapted to meet people’s changing, diverse needs. It was particularly person-centred and people were seen and responded to as individuals. Activity programmes were creative and designed to meet people’s preferences and choices. Where possible, they were encouraged to take a lead role in these. Menus were created to offer diverse foods that were healthy. Care planning was individualised and regularly reviewed ensuring people’s current needs were met. Where possible, these were completed with people and / or their representatives, with nothing being finalised until the person gave consent.

The registered manager was experienced, respected and thought of highly by staff, people and families. She and the management team ensured the service was well-led. The registered manager and the staff team were committed to ensuring they offered people the very best care possible and that people were as involved as possible in running the service. The quality of care the service provided was constantly assessed, reviewed and improved. The registered manager strived to create a service that offered outstanding experiences for people.

People were protected from abuse by trained and knowledgeable staff. They were trained in safeguarding people and knew what action to take if they identified any concerns. The service continued to identify individual and environmental risks. Action was taken to reduce these risks, although a comprehensive written account was not always documented.

People continued to be supported by good staffing ratios, which were reviewed and increased as needed. The management supported staff and assisted people on a daily basis where the need arose. Staff were able to meet people’s specific needs safely. Robust recruitment systems were implemented to ensure as far as possible, that staff were safe and suitable to work with people. The service worked well with community schemes, including volunteers, who went through the same robust recruitment process as staff.

People were supported to take their medicines correctly by trained and competent staff. Where people were able to self - medicate, they were appropriately assessed and assisted to remain independent. Medicine records were not always accurate. This was identified in audits, and the management team were developing a new method to manage errors in documentation moving forward.

A well-trained staff team were able to offer people effective care. They met people’s diverse needs. Care plans were kept up to date ensuring people’s current and changing health and emotional well-being needs were met. The service worked closely with health and other professionals to ensure they offered individuals the best care in the most effective manner. A comprehensive care document was always available and kept up to date should the person need to transition from one