About the service: The Risings Residential Home for the Elderly is a care 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. At the time of the inspection 15 people were living at the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

People received an exceptional level of care from highly trained staff. People were treated with the utmost respect and dignity.

People, relatives, visitors and professionals were overwhelmingly complimentary around the management, staff and excellent service provided at The Risings.

The service provided an outstanding level of person-centred care. People and their families were fully involved in all aspects of care delivery.

Very close links had been forged with local healthcare professionals and the local community and they were fully involved in the service and people’s wellbeing.

There was an exceptional level of group and individual activities both inside and outside the home. A great deal of thought, effort and resource had been placed onto enriching the lives of people.

The provider was very responsive to people’s health and wellbeing needs. People’s needs were attended to quickly.

People who chose to spend their last days at the service received extremely caring and responsive end of life care.

There was an excellent work place culture and staff were very happy in their role and were extremely complimentary around the management team.

People were protected from the risk of harm through comprehensive risk management plans and effective monitoring and actions.

The home was extremely clean and tidy, whilst maintaining a very homely feel. People were actively encouraged to make The Risings their home from home.

People and those important to them were supported to be fully involved in the planning and delivery their own of care.

The management team were highly skilled, experienced and knowledgeable around people’s healthcare and wellbeing.

Rating at last inspection: The service was rated good; report published14 July 2016.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating of the last inspection.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return as per our inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

We inspected The Risings Residential Home for the Elderly on 3 May 2016. This was an unannounced inspection. The service was registered to accommodate up to 17 older people, with age related conditions, including frailty, mobility issues and dementia. On the day of our inspection there were 17 people living in the care home.

At our last inspection on 20 February 2014 we found all regulations were being met and no concerns were identified.

A registered manager was in post, although not present on the day of the inspection. 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 were happy, comfortable and relaxed with staff and said they felt safe. They received care and support from staff who were appropriately trained, competent and confident to meet their individual needs. People were able to access health, social and medical care, as required.

People’s needs were assessed and their care plans provided staff with clear guidance about how they wanted their individual needs met. Care plans were person centred and contained appropriate risk assessments. They were regularly reviewed and amended as necessary to ensure they reflected people’s changing support needs.

There were opportunities for additional staff training specific to people’s needs, such as diabetes management and the care of people with dementia. Staff received one-to-one supervision meetings with their line manager. Formal personal development plans, such as annual appraisals, were in place.

Up to date policies and procedures were in place to assist staff on how keep people safe and there were sufficient staff on duty to meet people’s needs. Staff told us they had completed training in safe working practices. We saw people were supported with patience, consideration and kindness and their privacy and dignity was respected.

Thorough recruitment procedures were followed and appropriate pre-employment checks had been made including evidence of identity and satisfactory written references. Appropriate checks were also undertaken to ensure new staff were safe to work within the care sector.

Medicines were managed safely in accordance with current regulations and guidance by staff who had received appropriate training to help ensure safe practice. There were systems in place to ensure that medicines had been stored, administered, audited and reviewed appropriately.

People were being supported to make decisions in their best interests. The registered manager and staff demonstrated a sound understanding of the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLs).

People’s nutritional needs were assessed and records were accurately maintained to ensure people were protected from risks associated with eating and drinking. Where risks to people had been identified, these had been appropriately monitored and referrals made to relevant professionals, where necessary.

Quality assurance audits and a formal complaints process were in place. People were encouraged and supported to express their views about their care and staff were responsive to their comments. Satisfaction questionnaires were used to obtain the views of people who lived in the home, their relatives and other stakeholders.

There were seventeen people living at the home at the time of our inspection.

We found that the provider had procedures in place which ensured that people were involved in how the home was run, protected their privacy and dignity and promoted independence.

We reviewed the care records of four people and found that their care had been planned and delivered effectively.

We found that the provider had processes in place to safely manage people’s medication, and that there had been enough qualified and experienced staff on duty to care for people.

We also found that the provider had an effective process In place for the management of complaints.

One person who lived at the home told us; “They look after me well. They keep me informed and my son is involved. They involve all my family. There is always something going on here and they make sure that I get to watch football and that I don’t miss matches that are important to me”.

Four people who lived at The Risings told us that that they were happy there. One person’s relative told us that The Risings was, “A respectful, loving and caring place for people to live”.

We saw that people's dignity and rights were respected at the home, and that care planning was detailed and personalised.

We found that staff were well trained, and were also aware of how to protect people from abuse or neglect.

We saw that the home was clean and homely, and that systems were used to protect people against infection.