Flowerdown House is a hotel which offers short breaks to serving or ex armed forces personnel and their families. The service provides accommodation for up to eight people with care needs in specific bedrooms. During our inspection there were four people staying at the service. It was changeover day, which meant that some guests were leaving after their stay and others arriving. The property is a large detached house on the sea front.

At the last inspection, the service was rated Good.

At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

Why the service is rated good:

Staffing levels were safe to meet people’s needs. The staff team were well established and were skilled at making new relationships with people. Staff were kind, caring and respected people’s privacy.

Medicines were stored and administered safely. Risk assessments were in place to support people safely whilst ensuring people’s independence was retained. Staff were knowledgeable about how to safeguard people from abuse.

Staff had effective induction, training and supervision. People’s health needs were met and people had benefited from attentive staff who referred matters when needed to other health and social care professionals.

Pre-assessment information and care records gave clear guidance to staff of how people preferred to be supported. Feedback was sought from people and actions taken as a result.

Systems were in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service. The service was well run and managed. Staff worked effectively as a team and felt valued and supported. Positive feedback was received about the registered manager from people and staff.

The inspection took place on the 2nd April 2015 with two inspectors and was unannounced. Flowerdown House is a hotel which offers short breaks to serving or ex armed forces personnel and their families. The service provides accommodation for up to 8 people with care needs in specific bedrooms. During our inspection there were three people staying at the service. The property is a large detached house located on the sea front.

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 appeared relaxed during our visit, one person told us “This was my second visit most relaxing”. Staff were welcoming and people in the service appeared relaxed and well cared for. We saw staff talking with people in a friendly and respectful manner. We observed staff checking to ensure people were safe and their needs were met.

.

People had been assessed and appropriate care plans were prepared with the involvement of people and their representatives. For example when people book into the service they update and review the admission assessment at that point or every 6 months whichever is sooner. This ensures that the service can meet people’s needs. People’s physical health needs were closely monitored. There were regular reviews of people’s health and the service responded appropriately to changes in people’s needs.

Staff had been recruited and provided with the training they needed to enable them to care effectively for people. Staff demonstrated a good understanding of the needs of people. People told us staff were able to meet their needs and they were satisfied with the management of the service. One person told us “Nothing is too much trouble”

Systems were in place to protect people from harm and abuse and staff knew how to follow them. Staff had received training and knew how to recognise and report any concerns or allegation of abuse.

 The service had resident’s meetings and the registered manager had one to one discussions to ensure people could express their views and their suggestions were addressed. The service carried out satisfaction surveys after every stay. We saw the record of complaints indicated concerns expressed had been promptly responded to. We found the premises were clean and tidy. The hotel had an Infection control policy and measures were in place to prevent infection. There was a record of maintenance carried out in the service. We observed the hotel was well furnished and the bedrooms comfortable.

People at this service received good quality of support. We spent time observing care practices, talking to people and staff, and looking at records.

We saw that care records were clearly written and provided staff with guidance to support people as they wished. We saw that people had been involved in writing their own assessments before they came to the service.

People we spoke with told us that they were extremely happy with the care they received at this service. People told us they were encouraged to express their views. One person said "they asked me how I liked everything done before I even came here". Another person told us “my daughter told them everything I needed when they came to see me”.

During our visit, we saw that staff treated people respectfully. Staff were patient and polite and always made themselves available when required. One person told us "the staff are always there when I need them, and so friendly too”. Another person said "all the staff are so wonderful, they really are".

People told us that they felt safe at this service. Staff were knowledgeable about safeguarding and what they would do if anyone had any concerns. We saw that staff training was up to date, and relevant to individual roles within the staff team.

We saw that people's opinions were regularly taken into account and used to improve the service. Everyone we spoke with told us they would recommend the service to others.

People told us that they were very happy with the care they received at Flowerdown House. They told us that "the staff are lovely and nothing is too much trouble for them". People also told us "we have a choice of things to do". People told us that they were treated with dignity and respect.

We saw the care planning system which involved people using the service, recorded their views and ensured that care and support was delivered in a way that met their needs.

People told us that they felt safe at Flowerdown House and staff were able to show us that they understood safeguarding issues and how to report them should the need arise.

People using the service told us that "the staff are lovely". We saw evidence that there was a system of recruiting staff which meant that they were safe to work at Flowerdown House.

The provider showed us ways in which the views of people using services was used to evaluate and improve the facilities at Flowerdown House. The provider also showed us ways in which risks were managed to ensure that health, welfare and safety of people using the service was protected.

On the day of our visit to Flowerdown House most people were going home after staying for a week. However, a number of people were staying longer or we were able to talk to people before they were collected or went home.

We were told that Flowerdown House was “wonderful” and had “character and was homely”. We were told that members of staff were “welcoming” and it was “comforting to see that the staff had not changed and were becoming so familiar”.

We asked people about the premises and were told that it was “immaculate” and “very well organised for people who had disabilities and limited mobility”.

People said that the food was “very good” and “not too fancy – which is what we like”. One person we talked to who needed a relatively high level of personal care said that members of staff knew them “very well” as they had been coming to stay for six years, and staff cared for him “exceptionally well”. The person felt “very safe”.

We were told that the service organised trips which “really suited” the people who came to stay. Members of staff would also take people with limited mobility out for gentle walks or go with them in manual or electric wheelchairs if they were unused to the area or not totally confident on their own.

People told us that the members of staff were, however, “respectful” and did not “interfere with my independence until they judged that I needed some help. That being said, they would always come immediately if I asked or used the call bell system in my room”.

We found that Flowerdown House has met all the essential standards of quality and safety, but needs to make improvements to in respect of the references it obtains and retains when recruiting new staff. References we saw did not comply fully with the provider’s policy or statutory obligations.