Elm Bank Retirement Village is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 115 people. There were 97 people living at the home at the time of this inspection. At the last inspection, in February 2015, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found that the service remained Good.

People continued to receive safe care. Staff were appropriately recruited and there were enough staff to provide care and support to meet people’s needs. People were consistently 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 carry out their roles. People were supported to maintain good health and nutrition.

People developed positive relationships with the staff who were caring and treated people with respect, kindness and courtesy. People had detailed personalised plans of care in place to enable staff to provide consistent care and support in line with people’s personal preferences. People knew how to raise a concern or make a complaint and the provider had implemented effective systems to manage any complaints that they may receive.

The service had a positive ethos and an open culture. The registered manager was a positive role model in the home. People and relatives told us that they had confidence in the manager’s ability to provide consistently high quality managerial oversight and leadership to the home.

This unannounced inspection took place on 24 February 2015. Elm Bank Care Home is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 115 people. The home is situated in Kettering Northamptonshire. There were 80 people living at the home at the time of this inspection, some of whom were living with dementia.

There was 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.

People who used the service were well looked after by a staff team that had an understanding of how people wanted to be supported. Staff encouraged people to be independent and treated them with dignity, respect and compassion.

There was not always sufficient staff on duty to keep people safe. The layout of the building is quite large and sometimes staff were not easily visible to people or their relatives when they were needed.

Equipment used to assist people’s mobility and safety requirements was regularly serviced and maintained in good working order.

The procedures to manage risks associated with the administration of medicines were followed by staff working at the service.

People were supported to have sufficient to eat and drink to maintain a balanced diet. The meals offered at the home were nutritious. People’s changing appetites and choices were well catered for.

The manager had knowledge of the MCA 2005 and DoLS legislation and knew how to make a referral for a DoLS authorisation so that people’s rights would be protected.

Staff received Induction, training and regular supervision and appraisal.

Management audits were in place to monitor the quality of the service, and improvements had been made when required in a timely way.

We spoke with fourteen people who lived at the home. They told us they were treated with dignity and respect and that they were well looked after. A person said, ‘’They treat me very well and respect me.’’ Another person said, ‘’The staff are always very cheerful, and are prepared to listen to me if I have any issues.’’

We found that people’s needs had been assessed and regularly reviewed. Care staff we spoke with were knowledgeable about people’s needs and supported them well.

We found that the provider had supported their staff in relation to their responsibilities which enabled them to give care in a safe and appropriate manner.

We saw that the provider undertook a range of quality audits to check and monitor the quality of the service provided.

In this report the name of a registered manager appears who was not in post and not managing the regulatory activities at this location at the time of the inspection. Their name appears because they were still a Registered Manager on our register at the time.

We spoke with five people who used the service. They told us that they were looked after well and felt safe. One person we spoke with told us, "I am very happy here, the home is absolutely wonderful, the staff are charming, and I love my room.’’ Another person said, ‘’The food is very good and the home is so spacious and clean." A visitor we spoke with said, ‘’My relative is waiting to be assessed so they can live in a suitable permanent home, I know this place is temporary but it is fantastic and the staff and facilities are really good.’’

We found that there was regular communication between Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Elm ward to make sure that the discharge plans for the residents were reviewed regularly and that people experienced minimal delays in finding their preferred permanent residence.

We found that people had been supported at Elm ward to achieve a good quality of life at their permanent place of residence.

We spoke with five people who lived at the home. One person told us that they felt very well looked after at the home and felt safe at the home. They said, "It's a happy home, absolutely wonderful. The staff are charming, I like my room very much. The food is very good and the the home is very clean." Four other people were complimentary about their experience of living at the home.