Hollybank House

People's needs were assessed and reviewed with them and (where appropriate) with relatives, and any risks associated with health conditions documented. People received their prescribed medicines safely. The provider had a system in place to learn from incidents. The manager and staff described a 'no blame' approach, where incidents were seen as opportunities for everyone to learn and improve.

Risks associated with the service environment and use of equipment were assessed and mitigated. The service was kept clean and people were protected from the risk of an acquired health infection.

There were no restrictions on people welcoming visitors to their home. People, relatives and staff all described a family-oriented environment where visitors were always welcome. One relative said, "It's a friendly place; it's small and very family orientated. It's comfortable and has a homely feel." People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The service was well-led and had a positive, caring culture. People's needs and wishes came first, and staff both told us this and demonstrated it in the way they supported people. Staff felt supported to do their jobs well. Staff felt able to ask for extra training and support to enable them to provide better quality care. One staff member said, "Staff love the job, and this gives good consistent quality of care for people and allows us to really get to know people well."

People and relatives said they felt involved in the home and what went on there. People and relatives told us they felt able to raise concerns or make suggestions for improvement and felt confident they would be listened to. The provider undertook audits of all aspects of the service to review the quality of care. These were effective in identifying areas where improvements were needed.

Staff worked well alongside external health and social care professionals to ensure people's health was managed. One professional described the whole team approach that staff used and was positive about all staff's knowledge about people's health and social care needs. The provider had recently won a local award which recognised the whole team's commitment to providing high quality care for people at the end of life.