Abbotts House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. Abbott’s House is registered to accommodate 40 older people; at the time of our inspection there were 37 people living in the home.

At the last inspection this service was rated good. At this inspection we found the service remained good. The inspection took place on the 1st December 2017 and was unannounced.

The service had a registered manager. 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.

People were treated with respect, kindness and empathy; they had developed positive relationships with the staff that were caring, compassionate and friendly. People had detailed personalised care plans in place which enabled staff to provide consistent care and support in line with people’s personal preferences.

People continued to receive safe care. Staff were appropriately recruited and there were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs. People were protected from the risk of harm and received their prescribed medicines safely.

The care that people received continued to be effective. Staff had access to the support, supervision, training and on going professional development that they required to work effectively in their roles. People were supported to maintain good health and nutrition.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the home supported this practice. There were a variety of activities available for people to participate in if they wished to and the local community was encouraged to take part in events at the home.

The service had a positive ethos and an open culture. The registered manager and provider were committed to develop the service and actively looked at ways to improve the service. There were effective quality assurance systems and audits in place; action was taken to address any shortfalls.

People knew how to raise a concern or make a complaint and the registered manager had implemented effective systems to manage any complaints that they may receive.

People who used the service told us that they liked living at the home. One person we spoke with said, “It is lovely here, the care is very, very good." Another person said “The care here is very good and they are very friendly." A relative told us “We are very happy with the care mum has received, she had been down recently but the carers had looked after her and she has turned around and is quite happy again.”

We found the home to be compliant in the regulations we examined against.

We spoke with a person who used the service who said "The staff are very good but there is a lack of cleaners at present and care staff are helping out." We spoke to the manager who told us that this was correct however since our visit a new cleaner has been hired and further interviews were scheduled for two further cleaning positions.

A relative we spoke with said "We are very pleased with the home, the staff are very good and we are very happy with the way our relative is looked after."

We found that the provider is now compliant with this regulation.

We spoke with a number of relatives of the people who used the service and received comments such as "staff are very caring, not just for the people who live here but for their relatives as well, they become friends" and "there are not enough staff with at least four ladies who need hoisting and that takes two staff each time, bells are always going off and are not answered in time."

Other comments included "there are not enough staff, my relative needs hoisting by two people to get out of bed." Another relative told us "staff are very,very caring, they are brilliant."

We spoke with another relative who told us that there did not appear to enough care staff on duty or enough stimulating activities such as exercise classes.

We saw however that the staff were working hard carrying out numerous tasks and were polite and treated the people who used the service with respect and dignity at all times. This showed that the staff were diligent in their work but because of lack of staff they were totally task oriented this left little or no time for social interaction with the people who used the service.

Abbott House provides care for older people, including people living with dementia. We spent time making general observations of the care people received and asked people about their experience of using the service.

We spoke with four people who all said they were happy living at the home and pleased with the health and social care and support they received. We observed during our visit that people were treated as individuals and their dignity and independence was maintained.

The inspection took place on 14 and 16 October 2015 and was unannounced.

Abbott House is situated on the outskirts of the market town of Oundle in East Northamptonshire and provides care for up to 40 older people, including people living with dementia.

At the time of the inspection 35 people were using the service.

The service had 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.

The staff had a good understanding of what constituted abuse and of the safeguarding procedures to follow should they need to report any abuse.

Risks were appropriately managed to ensure that people were supported to make choices and take risks.

Staff had been recruited following safe and robust procedures and there were sufficient numbers of suitable staff available to keep people safe and meet their needs.

Systems were in place to monitor accidents and incidents so that preventative action could be taken to reduce the number of occurrences.

Robust arrangements were in place for the safe administration and management of medicines.

Staff had the skills and knowledge needed to support people appropriately and had regular training updates to maintain their skills. A programme of staff supervision and annual appraisals enabled the staff to reflect on their work practice and plan their learning and development needs.

People’s consent was sought before providing their care and treatment. People who lacked capacity to make decisions were supported following the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

People benefitted from having a balanced and varied diet. Their dietary needs were monitored and advice was sought from appropriate health professionals when needed.

People had regular access to healthcare professionals and were supported to attend health appointments.

Staff treated people with kindness and compassion, dignity and respect.

People had individualised and detailed care plans in place, which reflected their needs and choices on how they wanted their care and support to be provided.

Social, leisure and purposeful activities were provided for people to meet their individual needs and aspirations.

People and their representatives were encouraged to provide feedback on the service; complaints were taken seriously and responded to immediately.

The service was led by a registered manager who continually strived to provide a good quality service. The vision and values were person-centred. People and their representatives were supported to be involved and in control of their care.

Effective management systems were in place to continually monitor the quality of the service.