Whitegates Care Home

People's needs were holistically assessed in line with standards, guidance and the law. People's preferences were detailed in their care plans for staff to follow. People received support from trained, experienced staff. People were supported to eat and drink by staff and were involved in decisions around the menus. Action was taken by staff when people were at risk of malnutrition or dehydration. Staff ensured people had access to healthcare when they needed it and worked with other professionals to provide support to people. The design of the home had been decided by people living at the home.

People were supported by staff that were kind and caring. People's relatives agreed and told us, "Staff are lovely, absolutely lovely every single one. Cheerful, helpful and caring." We saw that staff spent time with people, understood their individual differences and appreciated people's qualities. People were supported to express their views and were involved in making decisions about their own care. People's privacy and dignity was respected by staff and staff encouraged people to be independent.

Staff were responsive to people's needs. People's care was planned in a personalised way and the management team carried out regular observations to check that people were receiving this care. Staff knew how people wanted to be communicated with and made information accessible to them. There was a wide range of activities for people to get involved in and people told us they enjoyed these. Complaints and concerns raised were viewed by staff as an opportunity to improve the service for people.

The culture of the home was calm and friendly. Staff were positive about supporting people and people told us they enjoyed spending time with staff. The registered manager ensured that the quality of the service provided was regularly monitored and improvements made where needed. People and their relatives were positive about the registered manager, one person's relative told us, "[manager] is a very helpful and considerate person and very interested in welfare of the residents." People, relatives and staff were involved in how the service was run.

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.