Last updated 29 December 2017
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 16 and 24 August, and 22 November 2017. The first two visits of the inspection were unannounced. The inspection was carried out by two adult social care inspectors and an expert by experience. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. On the third day the service was visited by one inspector and was announced.

At the time of our inspection there were 53 people using the service. During our visits we spoke or spent time with 20 people who used the service and 8 relatives. We spoke with: one of the providers, the registered manager, deputy manager, two team leaders, 11 care staff and three catering staff. We spent time looking at documents and records which related to people’s care and the management of the service. We looked at the care plans of five people, the medication records of seven people and topical medication charts of 15 people.

Before our inspection, we reviewed all the information we held about the home, including previous inspection reports and statutory notifications. We contacted the local authority and Healthwatch. We were not made aware of any concerns by the local authority. Healthwatch feedback stated they also had no comments or concerns. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

We also asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. The provider completed the PIR and returned it to us in a timely manner, and this was taken into account when we made judgements in this report.