33 Charnhill Crescent provides accommodation and personal care for four people. People who live at the home have mental health needs. This was an unannounced inspection, which meant the staff and provider did not know we would be visiting. Four people were living in the home at the time of the inspection.

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

At the last inspection, the service was rated Good. At this inspection, we found the service remained Good.

Why the service is rated Good:

People were encouraged and supported to lead active lifestyles in their home and the local community. People were encouraged to be independent in all aspects of their daily living. This included looking after their own medicines if they had been assessed as safe to do so, managing their own finances, planning, and cooking their own meals. People were given a weekly budget to enable them to purchase their own food. Some people were working towards living more independently.

People were protected from the risk of abuse because there were clear procedures in place to recognise and respond to abuse and staff had been trained in how to follow the procedures. Systems were in place to ensure people were safe including risk management, checks on the environment and safe recruitment processes.

Sufficient staff supported the people living at the service. There were occasions during the day when there were no staff present in the home. This was kept under review ensuring people were safe and not at risk. People told us they enjoyed the opportunities of being on their own without staff support. This was time specific for a period of two hours. When new people moved to the home this would be reviewed to ensure it continued to be safe.

Care was effective and responsive to people’s changing needs. Information was available to enable the staff to recognise any relapses in people’s physical or mental health and guidance on what action should be taken to support the person. People were involved in making decisions on how they wanted to be supported.

People’s views were sought through care reviews and house meetings and these were acted upon. Systems were in place to ensure complaints were responded to.

Staff were knowledgeable about the people they were supporting. Staff had received appropriate training to support people effectively. There was a strong commitment to providing care that was tailored to the person. Staff worked as a team to deliver care. Systems were in place to ensure open communication including team meetings and daily handovers. A handover is where important information is shared between the staff during shift changeovers. This ensured important information was shared between staff enabling them to provide care that was effective and consistent.

People were provided with a safe, effective, caring and responsive service that was well led. The organisation’s values and philosophy were clearly explained to staff. There was a positive culture where people felt included and their views were sought. The quality of the service was reviewed with action plans developed to enhance the service.

33 Charnhill Crescent provides accommodation and personal care for four people. People who live at the home have mental health needs. This was an unannounced inspection, which meant the staff and provider did not know we would be visiting.

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

There was an established team working in 33 Charnhill Crescent. They were knowledgeable about the people they were supporting. Staff had received appropriate training to support people effectively. There was a strong commitment to providing care that was tailored to the person. People were involved in making decisions on how they wanted to be supported.

People were encouraged and supported to lead active lifestyles both in their home and the local community. People were encouraged to be independent in all aspects of their daily living. This included looking after their own medicines if they had been assessed as safe to do so, managing their own finances and planning and cooking their own meals. People were given a weekly budget to enable them to purchase their own food. Some people were working towards living more independently either in their own flat or a supported living model.

People were protected from the risk of abuse because there were clear procedures in place to recognise and respond to abuse and staff had been trained in how to follow the procedures. Systems were in place to ensure people were safe including risk management, checks on the environment and safe recruitment processes.

Sufficient staff supported the people living at the service. There were occasions during the day when there were no staff present in the home. This was kept under review ensuring people were safe and not at risk. People told us they enjoyed the opportunities of being on their own without staff support. This was time specific for a period of two hours. When new people moved to the home this was reviewed to ensure it was safe.

People had a care plan that described how they wanted to be supported in an individualised way. These had been kept under review involving the person. Care was effective and responsive to people’s changing needs. There was information for support staff in recognising any relapses in people’s physical or mental health and guidance on what action should be taken to support the person.

People’s views were sought through care reviews and house meetings and these were acted upon. Systems were in place to ensure that complaints were responded to. Staff learnt from these and action was taken to improve the service provided.

People were provided with a safe, effective, caring and responsive service that was well led. The organisation’s values and philosophy were clearly explained to staff and there was a positive culture where people felt included and their views were sought.

33 Charnhill Crescent is a small home that offers support to people who have mental health needs.

We carried out this visit to check on the care and welfare of people using this service. The visit was unannounced which meant the provider and the staff did not know we were coming.

Two people were in residence when we visited. One person was staying with a relative for the weekend. One member of staff was on duty.

We saw that care and support records provided clear information to staff about how to meet the needs of the individuals who used the service.

We saw that people had a choice of food each day. We saw staff supporting people who needed help to eat their meals.

We found that that people lived in a home which was clean, this was because the provider had procedures in place to reduce the risk of infection.

We found effective systems were in place for storing, recording and handling medicines.

Clear records were in place to outline the support needs of the people living at 33 Charnhill. Records were detailed, contained accurate information and kept under review.

People were positive about their experiences. Comments included, " I have an active busy life, I enjoy my job and going out and meeting up with my family”, another person told us “It’s a nice place to live and I am getting on really well”.

People told us they were happy living at 33 Charnhill Crescent, they told us that they felt well supported by staff to access their community, examples were given such as going to work and accessing leisure and social activities. On the day of our visit one person was visiting family and another person was on their way to their job.

People told us they were involved in planning of their care. This included meeting with their key worker that were involved in their care. People told us they had access to their plans of care and the staff showed them what was documented. People sign to say they agree with the discussions at the key worker meeting.

Records about support provided to people had been well written, involved the person and had been kept under review and updated where required.

The home had been well maintained, was homely and comfortable for the people that lived there.

Staff were knowledgeable about the needs and wishes of people in their care, staff. We saw that staff had been employed in line with the recruitment policies and procedure of the provider.

Complaints are handled and responded to effectively, people know how to make a complaint if they had any concerns.

People who spoke with us were able to discuss their life at the home and what they enjoyed about living there.

People said that they appreciate having their own rooms, and being able to choose how they are decorated. One person told us "I keep my room as I like it. It’s my space”.

One person told us" I like going to the allotment. It does me good to meet people and get out. There are some activities here. I get a bit bored sometimes but I can always talk to the staff ".

People told us that they liked living at the home. One person said "It's my home. I have lived here for years and I will live here for many years yet".

Two people who use the service told us that they felt safe at the home and that staff are "very nice ".