This inspection took place on the 26 and 29 November 2018 and was unannounced.

Stratton Court 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 Stratton Court was not providing nursing care.

Stratton Court accommodates sixty people in one adapted building. At the time of our inspection visit there were four people using the service.

Stratton Court did not have a registered manager in post. The current manager’s intention was to apply for registration. 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.

Safe recruitment procedures were not always followed before staff were appointed to work at Stratton Court.

Risks to people receiving care had not always been assessed and plans put in place for staff to follow.

Effective systems were not always operated to monitor and improve the quality of care people received.

Improvements were needed to ensure when decisions about people’s care were made on their behalf the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) would always be followed.

Peoples medicines were safely managed although some improvement was needed to managing medicines for occasional use.

There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs. We found the environment of the care home was clean and had been well maintained.

Staff received training and had the knowledge and skills to carry out their roles. People were supported to eat a varied diet.

People received support from caring staff who respected their privacy and dignity. People received individualised care to meet their needs. Staff were positive about the support they received from the new manager.

Further information is in the detailed findings below. We found breaches of The Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.