We carried out an unannounced inspection of the service on 15 February 2017.

The Cedars (Mansfield) provides accommodation and personal care for up to seven people living with learning disabilities and an autistic spectrum disorder. At the time of our inspection there were seven people living at the service.

The Cedars (Mansfield) is required to have 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. At the time of the inspection the registered manager was in post but not available on the day of the inspection.

Staff had received safeguarding training and were aware of their role and responsibilities to protect people. They told us they would be confident to use the whistleblowing procedure in the service to report any poor practice they might observe or became aware of.

Risks associated to people’s needs and the environment were assessed, planned for and monitored. Staff had been appropriately recruited, checks had been completed in relation to safety and suitability before they commenced their employment. There were sufficient staff deployed appropriately and staffing levels were flexible to meet people’s individual needs.

People received their prescribed medicines appropriately and medicines were stored and managed safely.

Staff received an induction and ongoing training and support, to enable them to carry out their role effectively and safely.

Staff demonstrated a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005. Staff demonstrated their commitment to ensuring people were involved as fully as possible in making choices about how they wanted their care and support to be provided. People were appropriately protected under the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.

People received support to ensure their nutritional needs were met. People were involved in menu planning and their preferences and independence were encouraged. People were supported with their health needs and accessed community health services when required. Staff worked well with external healthcare professionals.

People were supported by kind, caring and compassionate staff that showed respect and promoted independence. Staff were knowledgeable about people’s individual needs and what was important to them.

People had access to independent advocacy information should they have required this support. People were involved as fully as possible in reviews of their care to ensure the support provided met their needs. There were various care records and documents about people’s needs, but it was not clear how this information linked together and was used to monitor and review people’s needs, goals and aspirations.

People were supported by staff to follow interests and hobbies important to them. Staff had a person centred approach to the care and support provided. Systems were in place for receiving, handling and responding appropriately to complaints.

People had regular opportunities to provide feedback on the care and support they received in order to continue to drive forward improvements in the service.

Robust quality assurance systems were in place in order to ensure that that people received high quality, safe and effective care and support. The provider and registered manager were meeting their regulatory responsibilities.