Colenso House

There was no registered manager in place at the time of our inspection. 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.

Relatives and people told us the service was safe and they did not have any concerns.

There were processes in place to minimise risks to people's safety. Staff understood what constituted abuse or poor practice and systems were in place to protect people from the risk of harm. They knew when they should escalate concerns to external organisations. Potential risks to people's health and well-being were identified and managed effectively.

The recruitment procedures were thorough with appropriate checks undertaken before new staff members started working for the service. There were sufficient numbers of staff available to meet people's individual needs.

Staff received training and support to deliver a good quality of care to people and a training programme was in place to address identified training needs. Newly appointed staff completed an induction programme.

The manager and staff understood their responsibility to comply with the requirements of the Mental

Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). They respected decisions people made about their care and gained people's consent before they provided care and support.

People received care and support in a compassionate way from a staff team that knew them well and were familiar with their needs. Staff had built a good relationship with people and their privacy and dignity were respected. Confidentiality of people's personal information was maintained.

People's dietary needs were taken into account and their nutritional needs were monitored appropriately. Staff supported people to take their medicines safely.

The complaints policy and procedure was accessible to people and their relatives. The manager ensured that any issues raised were resolved to the satisfaction of the person.

The provider had effective systems in place to quality assure the services provided and to drive improvement. Feedback about the service was sought from people, relatives, staff and other professionals. If any improvements were needed, these were implemented.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found