The inspection took place on 30 August and 1 September 2016 and was unannounced. We had previously inspected the service on 4 October 2013 and no breaches of regulations were found in the standards inspected. Doveridge Care Home is a 20 bed residential care home which provides accommodation with personal care for older people living with dementia but does not provide nursing care. 19 people lived at the home when we visited.

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, relatives and professionals consistently told us about the excellent care they received from well trained staff with the knowledge and skills of staff, which had a positive impact on people’s health and wellbeing. People received effective care by staff who understood the needs of people living with dementia. The provider promoted best evidence based practice through the use of lead roles, called ‘Ambassador roles.’ Staff had ambassador roles for dementia, dignity, safeguarding, epilepsy, nutrition, diabetes as well as palliative and end of life care. Ambassadors undertook additional training and shared their knowledge within the team through championing and raising awareness in their topic area.

People’s independence and wellbeing had been enhanced by improvements made in the internal and external environment of the home. Staff took account of best practice evidence to make the environment of care more ‘dementia friendly’ and further improvements were underway. The home was decorated in themed colours with toilet/bathroom areas clearly identified by their colour and signage, which helped people navigate their way independently around the home. A new covered pergola had been built in the courtyard garden and planted with a sensory planting scheme. Great care and thought had been given to how to adapt this space to make it suitable for people living with dementia, in order to stimulate and encourage them to use the space and minimise restrictions on their freedom.

The service purchased sensory glasses to help train staff in innovative ways to help them understand people’s experiences of how visual impairment affected their perceptions. In response, staff identified more personalised ways to support each person with a visual impairment, for example, by providing coloured, rather than white crockery which for some people, helped them to see their food more easily and made their dining experience more positive. People with cognitive difficulties and conditions such as arthritis had specialised cutlery and crockery, which enabled them to eat and drink independently.

Staff developed exceptionally positive caring and compassionate relationships with people. The ethos of the home was that of an extended family. People were treated with dignity and respect and with compassion. Staff knew each person as an individual, people mattered, they were patient, and demonstrated empathy in their conversations with people and in how they spoke about them. They were exceptionally kind and made time for each person, there were lots of hugs and kisses. A staff member held a person’s hand, and offered people a reassuring touch, hug or kiss when they looked sad or bewildered. Staff forged strong relationships through music and singing, which was an everyday part of life at the home.

Staff had signed up to the national ‘Dignity in care’ initiative and they were committed to upholding the ten good practice steps to demonstrate compassion and respect for people. Empathy dolls were used to promote nurturing and bring comfort to people. People received exemplary end of life care in line with national best practice guidance and were kept peaceful,

We found Doveridge to be a very friendly and comfortable care home. Staff demonstrated their affection for the people living at Doveridge, frequently referring to it as "their home".

Visitors told us that they were made to feel comfortable and welcome whenever they visited. Relatives commented that "The staff are sympathetic to (my relative's) needs" and "The staff are nice here, that makes a tremendous difference." Frequent comments from everyone we spoke with was that the care home had a "homely" feel, one relative commenting that they "...even swopped recipes with the cook."

People's rooms reflected their interests and appeared clean and comfortable. There were a range of communal areas for people to sit in, though we noticed that most people who were ambient chose to congregate in the conservatory that also served as a walk way. From there people could observe the comings and goings of the home

There were 18 people living at the home when we visited. We spoke to six people, five relatives and a health professional to ask them about the care and treatment provided. People and relatives we spoke with expressed high levels of satisfaction about the care provided. One person said “staff here are wonderful, God sent the best staff to Doveridge”. Another person said “I have a nice room and everything that I need”. People spoke about the homely environment at Doveridge and one relative said “this is a smaller home, more friendly, staff have got time for you, they have a laugh and keep mum in high spirits”.

We spoke to six staff and asked them about the needs of people who lived at the home. The staff we spoke with demonstrated a high regard for people and had good knowledge of each person’s care needs and preferences and how to meet those needs. Staff undertook regular training and updating appropriate to the needs of the people living at the home. Everyone we spoke with confirmed they felt safe living at the home. We observed how people were treated with dignity and respect and there was lots of warmth, fun and laughter throughout the day.

We found the home was compliant with the five essential standards we inspected.