Greenwood Cottage

At the last inspection in October 2015 the service was rated good. At this inspection we found the service remained good.

The service had a registered manager. 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. However the registered manager had resigned from the service and a new registered manager had been appointed.

People told us they felt safe living in the service and we observed there were measures in place to keep people safe. Risks to people were appropriately assessed and managed. Staff were aware of how to identify and report any concerns they had about people's wellbeing. Staff had been recruited through a robust recruitment process and there were adequate staff on duty to meet people's needs in a timely way. People were supported to take their medicines by staff who were appropriately trained and had their competency checked.

Staff had received appropriate training, support and development to carry out their role effectively. We saw that staff had access to regular training relevant to their roles. Staff had individual supervision with their manager. This gave them an opportunity to discuss their development and any issues or concerns relevant to their work at Greenwood Cottage.

People received appropriate support to maintain healthy nutrition and hydration. People were encouraged and supported to eat and drink regularly. We observed people helping themselves to drinks and snacks as well as staff offering those who were unable to help themselves.

The service was meeting the requirements of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLs) and MCA. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff were aware of the need to obtain peoples consent and offer choices to people to enable them to keep control of their lives as much as they were able.

People told us and we observed that they were treated with kindness by staff who respected their privacy and upheld their dignity. Relatives confirmed how kind staff were and how their relatives had thrived and improved since coming to live at Greenwood Cottage.

People were given the opportunity to feed back on the service and their views were acted on. Staff supported people to be involved in how the service operated.

People received personalised care that met their individual needs. People were given appropriate support and encouragement to access meaningful activities and follow their individual interests.

People told us they knew how to complain and were confident they would be listened to if they wished to make a complaint.

The managers worked hard to create an open, transparent and inclusive atmosphere within the service. People, staff and relatives were involved in discussions around how the service was run.

There were robust quality assurance systems and processes in place and any shortfalls identified were promptly acted on to improve the service.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found