This inspection took place on the 19 October 2016 and was unannounced.

The service is registered to provide accommodation for up to 31 older people who require nursing care. At the time of our inspection there were 27 people staying there.

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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People received care from staff that knew them and were kind, compassionate and respectful. Their needs were assessed prior to coming to the home and care plans were in place and were kept under review.

There were appropriate recruitment processes in place and people felt safe in the home. Staff understood their responsibilities to safeguard people and knew how to respond if they had any concerns.

There were sufficient staff to meet the needs of the people; staffing levels were kept under review.

Staff were supported through regular supervisions and undertook training which helped them to understand the needs of the people they were supporting. People were involved in decisions about the way in which their care and support was provided. Staff understood the need to undertake specific assessments where people lacked capacity to consent to their care and / or their day to day routines. People’s health care and nutritional needs were carefully considered and relevant health care professionals were appropriately involved in people’s care.

People were cared for by staff who were respectful of their dignity and who demonstrated an understanding of each person’s needs. This was evident in the way staff spoke to people and the activities they engaged in with individuals. Relatives spoke positively about the care their relative received and felt that they could approach management and staff to discuss any issues or concerns they had.

There were a variety of audits in place and action was taken to address any shortfalls. Management was visible and open to feedback, actively looking at ways to improve the service.

In this report the name of a registered manager appears who was not in post and not managing the regulatory activities at this location at the time of the inspection. Their name appears because they were still a Registered Manager on our register at the time. We were told a new registered manager had been appointed and that a structure had been in place during the interim which involved the appointment of a clinical and non-clinical lead to support the service during the recruitment process. Our inspection was facilitated by the non-clinical lead.

During our visit to Westerleigh we spoke with five people who used the service, two relatives and five workers. The people we spoke to told us they were happy living at the home and that the staff were attentive to their needs. One person told us "staff are wonderful, I'm very happy," another told us "I have no complaints, they look after me very well."

Twenty eight people were living at Westerleigh Nursing Home during our inspection. We saw people being cared for by workers who understood the needs of people who were living at Westerleigh and we observed workers interacting with people in an attentive, friendly manner. Staff we spoke with had a good understanding of the needs of people using the service and told us they felt supported in their work.

We saw that people were cared for in individual rooms, some with en suite bathrooms. Communal areas included a television room, quiet area and dining room.

During our visit we spoke with five people who used the service and a visiting relative. We also spoke with four staff members; these were the registered manager (referred to as matron), a senior care worker and two care workers. We also took information from other sources to help us understand the views of people who used the service, which included meeting minutes.

The people we spoke with told us they were happy with the care they had received and with the staff team. One person who used the service told us “This is a very nice place, I like it here”. Another person who used the service told us “I’m quite happy here and I am looked after well”. Staff we spoke with had a good understanding of the support needs of the people who used the service. One member of staff we spoke with told us “We provide a very good level of care. We try and meet all the residents’ needs in every way”.

We saw that the service had systems in place to gain and review consent to care and treatment from people who used the service. The overall appearance of the service was clean and we saw that they had appropriate systems and policies in place in respect to cleanliness and infection control.

We spoke with three care workers during our visit and were told that they felt valued and supported and that their training needs had been met. We also saw that care plans, staff records and other records relevant to the management of the home were accurate and fit for purpose.

Some people we spoke with told us that they enjoyed living at Westerleigh and were happy. We were told “it’s a nice place to be”,

“I am happy here” and “the food is usually good”. Other comments included “the staff are nice” “it’s fairly good”, “I’m not always listened to”, “I get very bored”.

One person said’ I couldn’t wish to be in a better place than this, I like my freedom’.