Westdale Residential Care Home 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. The service provides accommodation for people living with a learning disability. The home can accommodate up to 18 people. At the time of our inspection there were 16 people living in the home. The service offers care for people with social care needs and most of the people needed no or minimal assistance with personal care. The service does not offer a service to people who have high needs.

At the time of our inspection there was 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. In this report when we speak about both the company we refer to them as being, ‘the registered persons’.

At the last inspection the service was rated, ‘Good’. At the present inspection the service remained ‘Good’. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the overall rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

People were offered the facility to manage their own medicines. For those who didn’t their medicines were managed safely.

Suitable quality checks were being completed and the provider had ensured that there was enough staff on duty. In addition, people told us that they received person-centred care.

There were systems, processes and practices to safeguard people from situations in which they may experience abuse. Risks to people’s safety had been assessed, monitored and managed so they were supported to stay safe while their freedom was promoted. Background checks had been completed before new staff had been appointed.

The service was clean and fresh and there were arrangements in place to prevent and control infections.

Staff had been supported to deliver care in line with current best practice guidance. People were able to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced diet. People had access to healthcare services so that they received on-going healthcare support.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and to maintain their independence. Staff supported them in the least restrictive ways possible. The policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff were exceptionally kind and caring. People’s dignity and independence were promoted at all times and great care was taken to ensure people were living in a kind and caring, family atmosphere. People’s consent on how the service was managed was central to how the service was run and what was provided for people. This created a sense of ownership of the service and people were clear they were part of the running of the service. They had an active representative on the committee than ran the service. This ensured the managers of the service they knew how people wanted to be care for. Staff were caring and compassionate and ensured people’s families were a part of daily life in the service.

Information was provided to people in an accessible manner. People had been supported to access activities and community facilities. The registered manager recognised the importance of promoting equality and diversity. People’s concerns and complaints were listened and responded to in order to improve the quality of care.

There was a positive culture in the service that was focused upon achieving good outcomes f

We inspected the service on 9 February 2016. The inspection was unannounced. Westdale Residential Care Home provides accommodation for up to 19 older people. On the day of our inspection fifteen people were using the service.

The service had a registered manager in place at the time of our 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 supported by staff who knew how to recognise abuse and how to respond to concerns. Risks in relation to people’s daily lives were assessed and planned for to protect them from harm.

People were supported by enough staff to ensure they received care and support when they needed it. Medicines were managed safely and people received their medicines as prescribed.

People were supported by staff who had the knowledge and skills to provide safe and appropriate care and support. People were supported to make decisions and staff knew how to act if people did not have the capacity to make decisions. People were supported to maintain their nutrition and staff were monitoring and responding to people’s health conditions.

People lived in a service where the ethos was supporting people to live their life the way they chose. People praised the registered manager and staff for the way they went the extra mile to make them happy and to empower them to live as independently as possible. People were treated with dignity and respect in an environment which made them feel they were part of a family. Staff were caring and compassionate and ensured people’s families were a part of daily life in the service.

People were supported to plan their care and support from the moment they decided to live in the service and they were involved in frequent reviews of their care. People were supported to have a varied and active social life and to follow their hobbies and interests. People were very happy in the service but knew who to speak with if they had any concerns they wished to raise and they felt these would be taken seriously and acted on.

People were given the opportunity to be involved in giving their views on how the service was run and there were effective systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided.

We found that people were actively supported and encouraged to be involved in making decisions about their care and support. We saw people had meetings where they could be involved in decision making, attend Committee meetings where they were given involvement to make decisions at a higher level and participate in writing their own care plan. One person said, “We get a lot of choice about food, what we do and where we go.”

People’s needs were assessed and care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with their individual care plan. People we spoke with said they were happy with the care and support they received from staff. One person said, “It is marvellous here. I only came short term but I decided to stay as I liked it so much.” Another person said, “You won’t find better than this.” A third person said, “We are very well looked after and if we are poorly staff care for us in our bedrooms. I like it here.”

All seven people we spoke with told us they felt safe in the home and they felt they could speak with staff or the manager if they needed to. They said that if their concerns were not acted on then they would speak with the Committee.

There were effective recruitment and selection processes in place. Application forms with a history of the person’s employment were in place and there were two references in place from previous employers. Staff working in the service told us that all staff had to have the necessary checks prior to commencing employment.

We spoke to three people who were using the service. They told us the staff who supported them were respectful and caring. One person said, "The staff are very friendly here. I am always listened to and I have the support of my key worker." Another person said, “The care is excellent. I don’t think it could be any better.”

People told us they felt safe with the support they were being provided. One person said, "I feel very safe here. The carers always say, let us know if there is anything you need to speak about.” People told us they liked the staff and staff were able to meet their needs. They also told us they felt they could speak to the staff and they would be listened to.

We found that staff were supported to provide care that met people's needs.

There were no recently recorded complaints for us to review, however the people we spoke to knew how to complain if they needed to do so. Staff also said they felt comfortable raising any concerns.

We carried out this responsive inspection because we had concerns that this service had not been visited since 10 March 2009.

There were 16 people living at the service when we visited.

We spoke with two people who lived at the service, two who had regular contact with the home to ask for their comments and observations.

The feedback we received about people’s experience of life at the home was positive. We were told, “It's marvelous, moving here was one of the best things I've ever done." And, "My problem isn't boredom; it's frustration, there's so much to do and I can't do it all."