Clarendon House is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 23 older people, including people living with dementia. There were 21 people living at the home on the day of our inspection visit.

At the last inspection of the service in November 2014 we rated the service as Good. Since the last inspection the provider had changed their provider name to Clarendon House Limited. This meant the service was required to be re-inspected and rated. We inspected Clarendon House on 28 April 2017. The inspection was unannounced.

There was a registered manager for the service. 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 provider had policies and procedures to make sure people remained safe at Clarendon House. These included a safeguarding procedure and a process to manage risks associated with people’s care. Staff understood their responsibilities for keeping people safe and for reporting concerns about abuse or poor practice within the home. Staff were properly checked before they could work in the home and there was an effective procedure for managing people’s medicines.

The registered manager understood their responsibilities in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. Where people had their liberty restricted in their best interests, applications had been submitted to, or authorised by the Supervisory Body. Staff understood how to support people to make decisions about their daily lives.

There were enough suitably trained staff available to keep people safe and to respond to people’s needs. Staff received the training and support they needed to meet people’s needs effectively.

Staff had good knowledge of people’s needs, preferences and abilities and provided safe and effective care to people. Staff had a handover meeting when they came on shift to keep them up to date about people’s care needs. Care records contained individualised information about how people liked to receive their care. The provider used a computerised care planning system that provided up to date information about people’s care needs to staff.

People told us staff were kind and caring. Throughout our visit staff showed people kindness and treated people with respect. People were treated as individuals and were encouraged to make choices about their care. Staff protected people’s privacy and dignity when providing care.

There were processes to ensure people’s nutritional needs were met and people had enough to eat and drink during the day. People’s health needs were monitored and people were referred to healthcare professionals when a need was identified.

People were supported to pursue individual hobbies and some activities were available to people. The registered manager was looking at ways to develop the activities programme so people would be better occupied and stimulated during the day.

Relatives and friends could visit people at any time. People's feedback was sought by provider surveys and meetings held in the home. People knew how to raise concerns or complaints and information about making complaints was displayed in the home. The registered manager had an ‘open door’ procedure for anyone who needed to see them.

The provider and registered manager had systems to monitor and improve the quality of the service. This was through feedback from people and staff, and a programme of regular checks and audits on care records and the environment.