Strathmore House is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 14 people. People who use the service have a learning disability. At the time of our inspection 14 people were using the service. At our previous inspection in March 2015, we rated the service as 'Good'. At this inspection, we found that the service remained 'Good'.

The service had a registered manager. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Staff understood how to keep people safe and staff supported people to understand potential risks to their health, safety and wellbeing. People’s medicines were managed safely.

People were protected from the risk of abuse because staff knew how to recognise and report potential abuse. Safe staffing levels were maintained to promote people’s safety and to ensure people participated in activities of their choosing.

People’s health and wellbeing needs were monitored and people were supported to access health and social care professionals as required. People could eat meals that met their individual preferences.

Staff supported people to make decisions about their care and when people were unable to make these decisions for themselves, the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) were followed.

Staff received regular training that provided them with the knowledge and skills to meet people’s needs.

People had positive relationships with the staff and staff promoted people’s independence and right to privacy.

People were involved in the assessment and review of their care and people were supported and enabled to make choices about their care and the choices people made were respected by the staff.

Staff supported people to access the community and participate in activities and roles that met their individual preferences.

Staff sought and listened to people’s views about the care and action was taken to make improvements to care. People understood how to complain about their care and a suitable complaints procedure was in place.

People and staff told us that the registered manager was supportive and approachable. The registered manager and provider regularly assessed and monitored the quality of care to ensure standards were met and maintained.

The registered manager understood the requirements of their registration with us and they notified us of reportable incidents as required.

We inspected this service on 6 March 2015. This was an unannounced inspection. At our previous inspection in April 2013 we found no concerns in the areas we looked at.

The service was registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 14 people. People who use the service have a learning disability.

At the time of our inspection 14 people were using the service.

The service had a registered manager. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Staff understood how to keep people safe and they helped people to understand risks. People’s safety was maintained in a manner that promoted their independence. Medicines were managed safely by the staff and people were enabled to administer their own medicines when this was appropriate.

Staff received regular training that provided them with the knowledge and skills to meet people’s needs. There were sufficient numbers of suitable staff to meet people’s needs and keep people safe.

People could access suitable amounts of food and drink and healthy eating was promoted. People’s health and wellbeing needs were monitored and people were supported to attend both urgent and routine health appointments as required.

People were treated with kindness, compassion and respect and staff promoted people’s independence and right to privacy. Staff supported people to make decisions about their care by helping people to understand the information they needed to make informed decisions.

Staff sought people’s consent before they provided care and support. However, some people who used the service were unable to make certain decisions about their care. In these circumstances the legal requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) were being followed. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) set out these requirements that ensure where appropriate, decisions are made in people’s best interests when they are unable to do this for themselves.

People were involved in the assessment and review of their care and staff supported and encouraged people to access the community and maintain relationships with their families and friends.

Staff sought and listened to people’s views about the care and action was taken to make improvements to care as a result of people’s views and experiences. People understood how to complain about their care and we saw that complaints were managed in accordance with the provider’s complaints procedure.

There was a positive atmosphere within the home and the registered manager and provider regularly assessed and monitored the quality of care to ensure standards were met and maintained.

The registered manager understood the requirements of their registration with us and they and the provider kept up to date with changes in health and social care regulation.

During our inspection, we spoke with seven people who used the service, two relatives, three members of staff and the registered manager. People told us they were happy living at Strathmore House. One person said, “I like living here. My bed is comfy and I like my curtains, I love it all”. Another person said, “The staff are brilliant”.

We saw that people were offered choices about their care and treatment and people were appropriately supported to make decisions. People were involved in the planning of their care, and they received the support they required to enable them to participate in activities both at the home and in the community.

People were supported to ensure they ate a healthy and nutritious diet, and we saw that special diets were catered for.

The home was being renovated and modernised and was suitably designed to meet people’s individual needs and keep them safe.

People were aware of aware of how to complain, and were given opportunities to share any concerns. We saw that where concerns and complaints had been raised, they were dealt with appropriately, to improve the service that people received.

We carried out this visit as part of our schedule of inspections to check on the care and welfare of people using this service. The visit was unannounced, which meant the registered provider and the staff did not know we were visiting. We spoke with six people using the service and four staff about how the service was delivered and the quality of service provision. We engaged with other people using the service throughout the visit and observed interactions.

We were accompanied by an expert by experience and their mentor for part of our visit. This is someone who has either used or uses social care services or has experience of caring for someone who has. They are people of all ages, with different experiences and from diverse cultural backgrounds. Our expert by experience talked to people using the service individually, looked at what happened around the home and saw how everyone was getting on together and what the home felt like. They took some notes and wrote a report about what they found the details are included in this report.

We saw that people were encouraged to be as independent as possible. People made their own drinks and told us that they helped staff with cooking or chose to cook their own meal. People told us they cleaned their own bedroom when needed, and told us they helped to keep their home clean and tidy.

People said they did a range of activities according to their individual preferences both in the home and in the community, and went out as much as they wanted to. People also had work experience opportunities and voluntary jobs.

People told us that they were involved in developing and reviewing their care records, which they called their ‘support plan’.

People using the service confirmed they could speak with the staff if they had a concern or a complaint and were confident that staff would address their concerns. This meant people felt able to voice their concerns and were listened to.