This inspection was carried out 14 June 2016 and was unannounced. During our last inspection in January 2014 we found that the service met the legal requirements in the areas we looked at.

York House is a family run business and provides care and accommodation for up to 13 people who have mental health needs. At the time of our inspection there were 12 people living at the home.

The home had a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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.

Staff were aware of the safeguarding process. Personalised risk assessments were in place to reduce the risk of harm to people, as were risk assessments connected to the running of the home, and these were reviewed regularly. Accidents and incidents were recorded and the causes of these analysed so that preventative action could be taken to reduce the number of occurrences.

There were enough skilled, qualified staff to provide for people’s needs. Robust recruitment and selection processes were in place and the provider had taken steps to ensure that staff were suitable to work with people who lived at the home. They received training to ensure that they had the necessary skills to care for and support the people who lived at the home and were supported by way of supervisions and appraisals.

People’s needs had been assessed before they moved into the home and they had been involved in determining their care needs and the way in which their care was to be delivered. Their consent was gained before any care was provided and the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and associated Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards were met.

People decided what food and drink they had and a variety of nutritious food and drink available to them. Snacks and fruit were available to people throughout the day. People received their medicines as they had been prescribed and were supported to administer medicines themselves when it was safe to do so.

Staff were kind, caring and protected people’s dignity. They treated people with respect and supported people in a way that allowed them to be as independent as possible.

There was an effective complaints system in place. Information was available to people about how they could make a complaint should they need to and the services provided at the home. People were assisted to access other healthcare professionals to maintain their health and well-being.

People and staff were encouraged to attend meetings with the registered manager at which they could discuss aspects of the service and care delivery. People were asked for feedback about the service to enable improvements to be made. There was an effective quality assurance system in place and the provider was an active participant in the day to day running of the service. .

We inspected York House on 31 January 2014. We found the home to be visibly clean and people at the service had their personal care needs met. We observed that some people were participating in activities with staff, whilst others were watching television. We had been told that some people had gone out for the day. People told us that the staff, 'look after you' and that the food was, 'nice and of a good quality'.

We found that people had been encouraged to participate in a variety of activities or to access the local the community facilities and amenities. Staff told us that the home was 'quite good' and that the provider supported them to provide people with good care. The care plans we reviewed demonstrated that people’s identified needs had been reflected, met appropriately and reviewed regularly. Staff had ensured that they gained consent from people before providing any form of care. There was a system in place for the recruitment of staff to ensure only staff suitable to work with vulnerable people were employed and all the required checks had been carried out before an offer of employment had been made.

The people we spoke with told us that they were happy living at York House. They said that they have choices of how to spend their day. On the day we visited one person was out playing golf. Another person told us that they did not like to go too far from the home and all they needed was at hand. Most of the people had an opportunity to go to day centres. All the people we spoke with were happy that there was now a staff member on duty at night.

We found that the home had addressed the issues we raised at our last inspection and were now meeting the needs of the people who lived there. We found that the people had care plans in place that reflected their needs and gave good directions to staff on how to meet the needs of the people. We found that the staff understood their duty of care to the people and were aware of how to raise concerns should they need to. There were sufficient staff on duty to meet the people’s needs and the manager had systems in place that ensured the home ran smoothly and in the best interests of the people who lived there.

The people using the service told us that the staff were very nice and kind but were very busy and didn’t have much time to take them out and to do interesting things with them. One person said that they would ‘love to go to the park’. Another person said that ‘it would be nice to have volunteers come into the home to so that all the people who lived there could be taken out together to different local attractions’.

When we asked if the staff took them out we were told that the staff were too busy. The people told is that staff sleep in the house at night but that they don’t like to disturb them as they have worked all day.

The people we spoke with on 14 September 2011 said that they had been involved in planning their care and that the staff support them to be as independent as possible. They said they usually go outside the home to see the doctor or other health professionals. They also said they would like to go out more for pleasure during the day but that there were not always enough staff on duty to help them to do this. People said that they had no concerns about the care provided and would make a complaint if they had one. One person said they were happy with the way the staff support them to manage their own finances. The people we spoke with praised the staff in the home and said they always listen to their views. They said they had taken part in residents' meetings and had chosen where to go on holiday this year. They said that they had all really enjoyed their recent holiday from the home.