Belvidere Nursing Home is situated in a residential area of Wallasey and can provide nursing and residential care or short-term care for up to 40 people.

At our last inspection we rated the service Good At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of Good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

The home has a registered manager who was supported by a deputy manager and the provider. 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.

Medications were safely managed. People who lived in the home and relatives we spoke with all gave positive feedback about the home and the staff who worked in it. The service had a relaxed feel and people could move freely around the service as they chose. People were able to have control over their lives and participate in activities they enjoyed.

Care plans and risk assessments were person centred and detailed how people wished and needed to be supported. They were regularly reviewed and updated as required with input from people and their families. Care plans showed that people's GPs and other healthcare professionals were contacted for advice about people's health needs whenever necessary. We saw the service had responded promptly when people had experienced health problems.

The registered manager and provider used different methods to assess and monitor the quality of the service. These included regular audits of the service and staff meetings to seek the views of staff about the service. The staff team were consistent and the providers were also involved in the running of the service.

Staff were recruited safely, received a robust induction and suitable training to do their job role effectively. All staff had been supervised in their role.

The home had carried out various checks to ensure the environment was safe and infection control processes were in place.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

We carried out an unannounced inspection of Belvidere Nursing Home on 23 and 25 November 2015.

Belvidere Nursing Home is situated in a residential area of Wallasey and can provide nursing and residential care or short term care for up to 35 people. There is parking to front and rear and a pleasant garden area at the back of the property.

The home required 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. There was a registered manager in post, who is registered with the Care Quality Commission.

The staff in the home knew the people they were supporting and the care they needed. We observed staff to be kind and respectful and the home provided a range of activities to occupy and interest people. This promoted their well-being. People who lived at the home and staff told us that the home was well led and staff told us that they felt well supported in their roles. We saw that the manager was a visible presence in and about the home and it was obvious that they knew the people who lived in the home extremely well

We observed a medication round and saw that this appeared safe, the drugs were given and

people were observed taking them. All the medication was in date and appropriately labelled and the Medication Administration Records were well maintained and completed appropriately with

staff signatures. This showed people’s medicines matched what had been administered. Medicines were stored safely and there was evidence that staff administering medication were trained and competent to do so.

We found that the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty (DoLS) 2009 legislation had been adhered to in the home. We also saw that that 14 staff had attended Deprivation of Liberty (DoLS) training, this included senior staff and care staff.

Staff were recruited safely and there was sufficient evidence that staff had received a proper induction or suitable training to do their job role effectively. The majority of staff had been supervised and appraised. The registered nurses had the appropriate checks regarding their registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

The provider had systems in place to ensure that people were protected from the risk of harm or abuse. We saw there were policies and procedures in place to guide staff in relation to safeguarding adults.

The provider’s emergency procedures and some health and safety checks required improvement to ensure people could be evacuated safely in case of emergency and this was carried out during and following the inspection.

We spoke to different people about this service to gain a balanced overview of what people experienced, what they thought and how they were cared for. We spoke to four people resident at the service, three relatives of people and four staff members.

People said it was, “a lovely home, the staff are ever so nice”, and a new member of staff said they had wanted to work there after visiting a person resident at the service because it was “so good.” Relatives said that they had been involved in discussions about their parent’s needs and had seen and signed care plans.

We spoke to people and observed the administration of medicines and saw that documented policies were adhered to in a safe way.

The people that we spoke to said that they had never had reason to make a complaint but that they believed that it they did raise concerns they would be taken seriously and acted upon. We saw staff interacting and caring for people who use the service and they did so in a caring way, calling people by name. Staff were able to describe the needs of different service users showing us that they understood what care individuals needed.

Staff told us that they were encouraged to do NVQ training and that they received regular update training and we saw records of training received. Staff said they felt supported by their managers.

We spoke with five family members during our visit and four people living there. Relatives told us that they were happy with the care and support their loved ones received. One person living in the home told us that she was "more than happy", and "couldn't wish for anything more", and another that staff were very helpful and kind.

Relatives told us they had no concerns regarding the safety of their relative, people living in the home told us staff answered the call bells quickly and staff were always pleasant and polite.

We spoke with five staff who told us that they had regular training and two care staff told us that they were encouraged to develop their knowledge and gain professional qualifications by achieving National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) at level 2 and 3.