The inspection visit took place on 24 August 2016 and was announced. Westwood provides care and accommodation for up to nine people with a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder. At the time of our visit nine people lived at the home. Accommodation was provided in a large detached house in a residential street.

A registered manager was 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.

The provider minimised the risks to people’s safely because detailed risk assessments and management plans were in place to manage identified risks. Staff were knowledgeable about the risks associated with people’s care and support and consistently managed risks well.

Staff had received training in safeguarding people to ensure they understood their responsibility to report any observed or suspected abuse to keep people safe. Recruitment checks were carried out by the provider prior to staff starting work at the home, to make sure they were suitable to work with people and new staff completed an induction when they started working at the home.

The registered manager and the staff understood their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) to ensure people were looked after in a way that did not inappropriately restrict their freedom. At the time of our inspection visit DoLS had been submitted, or had been approved, for all of the people living at the home.

People were supported to maintain their health and well-being and staff maintained good relationships with health professionals. Medicines were managed safely so people received their medicines as prescribed. People chose how they spent their time, they were involved in planning food menus and their nutritional needs were met.

The home had a calm and relaxed atmosphere. Staff felt supported by the provider's management team and they enjoyed working at the home. We observed they were kind, responsive to people's needs and had good knowledge of how people preferred their support to be provided. They promoted people’s independence and understood the importance of respecting people’s right to privacy.

The views of people, their relatives, advocates, health professionals and staff were actively sought and listened to by the provider. People and their relatives knew how to make a complaint and a system was in place to manage complaints received about the service. Effective systems to monitor the quality of the service and make any necessary improvements were in place.