Arcot House Residential Home

People and their relatives agreed the service was safe saying, "We are completely confident in their care. We know they are safe at Arcot."

Risks were assessed and extremely detailed plans put in place to keep people safe. Staff and people worked together, regularly reviewing risk and balancing risk with independence so people could live their best life. The provider over recruited to ensure there were enough staff to safely provide care and support to people, including monthly one to one sessions for people with their keyworkers.

Checks were carried out on staff before they started work to assess their suitability to support vulnerable people. Medicines were well managed and people received their medicines as prescribed. People were protected by the home's infection control policy and procedures.

The service provided an extremely effective service, taking into account small details to ensure people felt as well as they could and maintained mobility and independence. Training and development was based on research and best practice guidelines to enhance quality and safety of the service provision. Staff felt constantly supported, valued and praised. They told us, "We all strive to give outstanding care. It makes us so proud. Who wouldn't want to work here" and "I'm so happy to have the opportunity to spend time with the people here. I love it."

People continued to receive a nutritious, healthy diet that met individual preferences in an extremely personalised, sociable way. Staff all aimed to ensure people ate well and enjoyed their meals, including having fun trying out new foods.

The home was decorated and maintained to a very high standard whilst maintaining a homely feel. People were consulted about the adaptation and design of their home and new extension and choice and preferences were respected. There were various areas to enjoy activities, events and personal private time. The service had been creative in developing areas of the home that would enhance people's wellbeing, such

as hair salon, art therapy room and nail bar.

The service was exceptionally caring and put people at the heart of everything they did. People told us, "I think everyone's wonderfully friendly and caring, staff sat with [person's name] the other day when she was unwell, it's a very friendly atmosphere here, it's special." People were relaxed, comfortable and confident in their home. People were valued, had key workers they had become friends with and often had meaningful roles in household chores, received training and held ambassador roles.

Staff had an excellent awareness of individuals' needs and treated people in a warm and respectful manner. They were knowledgeable about people's lives before they started using the service. Every effort was made to enhance this knowledge so that people's life experiences remained meaningful. The commitment of the staff was excellent. They told us, "We are building up a good trusting relationship and [person's name] is talking more. Today I've discovered we've both got a love of the lake district, we talked all about the walks and rocks, next time I'll find a book we can look at together."

The service was exceptionally responsive to people's health and social needs. People received extremely person centred care and support. Relatives told us, "[Staff name] is our care plan lead. She's superb, it's like a family really."

Regular monitoring and reviews meant that referrals had been made to appropriate health and social care professionals. Where necessary care and support had been changed to accurately reflect people's needs and improve their health and wellbeing.

People were offered a vast array of activities both at the service and in the local community. People, staff and relatives all came together as a community and built friendships.

The whole team were proud and privileged to support people with end of life care.

People benefitted from a service that was very well led. The provider, registered manager, deputy and staff team maintained a clear focus on continually seeking to improve the service people received. Staff told us the registered manager led by example and they had tremendous respect for her and their commitment.

Everyone demonstrated strong values and, a desire to learn about and implement best practice throughout the service. Good quality assurance systems were in place and based upon regular, scheduled audits, which identified any action required to make improvements. This meant the quality of service people received was monitored on a regular basis and, where shortfalls were identified they were acted upon.