The inspection took place on 8 February 2017. The inspection was unannounced.

Darlington Manor is a residential care home based in Darlington, County Durham. The home provides personal care for older people and people with dementia. It is situated close to the local park, amenities and transport links. On the day of our inspection there were 46 people using the service.

The service had a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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.

We last inspected the service in February 2015 and rated the service as ‘Good.’ At this inspection we found the service remained ‘Good’ and met all the fundamental standards we inspected against.

The atmosphere of the service was homely and relatives told us it was was very welcoming. People who used the service and their relatives that we spoke with told us they felt the service had a family approach.

Without exception we saw staff interacting with people in a person centred and caring way. We spent time observing the support that took place in the service. We saw that people were always respected by staff and treated with kindness. We saw staff being considerate and communicating with people well.

We saw that people were encouraged to enhance their wellbeing on a daily basis to take part in activities that encouraged and maximised their independence and also contributed positively to the homely atmosphere.

We spoke with a range of different team members; care, kitchen staff, activity staff, domestics and maintenance staff who told us they all felt well supported and that the registered manager was supportive, and they were all polite, receptive, open and approachable. We also spoke with visiting professionals from the community nursing team.

Throughout the day we saw that people who used the service, relatives and staff were comfortable, relaxed and had an extremely positive rapport with the registered manager and also with each other.

From looking at people’s care plans we saw they were written in plain English and in a person centred way and they also included a ‘one page profile’ that made use of, personal history and described individuals care, treatment and support needs. These were regularly reviewed and included family members and people in the process.

Care plans contained risk assessments. These identified risks and described the measures and interventions to be taken to ensure people were protected from the risk of harm. The care plans we viewed also showed us that people’s health was monitored and referrals were made to other health care professionals where necessary, for example: their GP, community nurse or optician.

Our observations during the inspection showed us that people who used the service were supported by sufficient numbers of staff to meet their individual needs and wishes in a person centred way.

When we looked at the staff training records, they showed us staff were supported and able to maintain and develop their skills through training and development opportunities were accessible at this service. The staff we spoke with confirmed they attended a range of valuable learning opportunities. They told us they had regular supervisions and appraisals with the registered manager, where they had the opportunity to discuss their care practice and identify further mandatory and vocational training needs. We also viewed records that showed us there were robust recruitment processes in place.

We observed how the service administered medicines and how they did this safely. We looked at how records were kept and spoke with the registered manager about how senior staff were trained to administer medicine and we found that the medicine administ

We spoke with eight people who lived at Darlington Manor. People told us they got on well with the staff and we saw a variety of activities happening in the home and outings and entertainment that were planned in the near future.

The service undertook regular questionnaires not only with people who lived at the home and their family but also with doctors and visiting professionals. Some of the comments included; “Very friendly and staff are well informed” and “I like how staff interact with clients, it’s respectful and friendly”. We also saw a regular programme of staff and resident meetings where issues where shared and raised. This showed the service listened to the views of people.

The home provided care specifically for people with dementia in one area of the home and both the manager and senior care staff agreed with the fact the environment could be adapted to cater more specifically for the needs of people with dementia.

We found that medication was stored and administered correctly and the home also followed policies for the safe recruitment of staff.

We spoke with ten people living at the home. Some people were not able to tell us directly what they thought about the service. However, during our visit we spent time observing how care staff supported people and this was positive and respectful.

People were positive in their views about the home. They told us;

“Its lovely here, all the girls are good, they are all different but all are very kind” and

“If you have any complaints about anything you can tell them".

We had lunch in one of the dining rooms and saw staff spend time with people and supported them with dignity and respect. There were sufficient staff on duty to support people for their care needs. We saw that there was a training and supervision programme in place for all staff and records showed that staff were able to raise any issues in their supervision session that were addressed by the home. One staff told us; “Sometimes its challenging but I really enjoy it. The seniors are really supportive and the service has helped me work around my family commitments”.

We spoke with relatives and visitors to the home who were very positive in their comments about the home and about the care their relatives received. One person told us; “I can’t praise the staff highly enough”.

We saw the provider had a quality monitoring processes in place to check the quality of the service, which included the views of people and their relatives.

The inspection visit took place on the 2nd and 4th December 2014 the first day was unannounced.

We last inspected the service on 4th July 2013 and found the service was not in breach of any regulations at that time.

The service provides accommodation for up to 63 older people. The service provides residential care alongside care for people living with dementia. The home is situated in Darlington and is near to all local amenities and is a modern, purpose-built facility with views over a local park.

There is 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 were policies and procedures in place in relation to the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivations of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). The manager had the appropriate knowledge to know when an application should be made and how to submit one. This meant people were safeguarded.

People told us they felt safe at the service. We saw that staff were recruited safely and were given appropriate training before they commenced employment. There were sufficient staff on duty to meet the needs of the people and the staff team were very supportive of the manager and each other. Retention of staff at this home was good. Medicines were also stored and administered in a safe manner.

There was a regular programme of staff supervision in place and records of these were detailed and showed the home worked with staff to identify their personal and professional development. We spoke with kitchen staff who had a good awareness of people’s dietary needs and staff also knew people’s food preferences well.

We saw people’s care plans were personalised and had been well assessed. Staff told us they referred to care plans regularly and they showed regular review that involved the person if they were able. We saw people being given choices and encouraged to take part in all aspects of day to day life at the home, from going to the cinema to helping make Christmas table decorations.

The service encouraged people to maintain their independence and the activities co-ordinator ran a full programme of events which included accessing the community with people as much as possible. People told us they had been to the cinema recently and into town to do Christmas shopping.

The service undertook regular questionnaires not only with people who lived at the home and their family but also with visiting professionals. Some of the comments included; "Very friendly and staff are well informed" and "I like how staff interact with clients, it’s respectful and friendly". We also saw a regular programme of staff and resident meetings where issues where shared and raised. The service had an accessible complaints procedure and people told us they knew how to raise a complaint of they needed to. This showed the service listened to the views of people.