24 January 2013
During a routine inspection
There was a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere within the home and the staff we spoke to understood how to support people, assisted them to make choices and maintain as much independence as possible. A member of staff told us they "don't tell people what to do" and "it's their home."
People who used the service were seen to interact well with each other and staff. They shared stories about their holidays and outings and laughed and joked together.
In order to protect the people who used the service, we saw that the home carried out a rigorous staff recruitment process.
We saw that staff were knowledgeable about people's needs and preferences, were observed to treat people as individuals and care was person centred with the focus on positives in a personalised way. Lifestyle plans noted that people "liked doing jigsaws" and "has a good sense of humour."
There were processes in place to monitor the quality of service being provided and we saw that people were involved through questionnaires, reviews and one to one discussions. There was a formal audit process in place with outcomes and action plans to ensure that key standards were maintained.