Grovelands Lodge is registered to provide accommodation and support for up to four people with mental health issues. At the time of our inspection there were three people using the service.

The inspection was unannounced and took place on 9 and 14 August 2017. The last inspection of this service took place on 29 March 2015 and at that time the service was rated as good.

At the first inspection visit the registered manager and deputy manager were absent due to an extended period of annual leave. A second visit took place on 14 August 2017 once the manager had returned so that the inspector could have access to information which had been locked away in their absence.

At the time of inspection there was a registered manager in post who was also the registered provider. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The provider had failed to notify the Commission about a significant event that occurred at the service whilst the registered manager was away on annual leave. We have made a recommendation that the registered manager review the arrangements in place for managing the service during their absence.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) provides a legal framework for making particular decisions on behalf of people who may lack the mental capacity to do so for themselves. The Act requires that as far as possible people make their own decisions and are helped to do so when needed. The provider had considered people’s mental capacity but had not always ensured that people's mental capacity had been formally assessed and recorded. We have made a recommendation that the provider look at ways to enhance their understanding and implementation of the MCA legislation.

People said they felt safe and happy living at Grovelands. Risks to people were identified and managed safely and positively. This meant that people received safe care that met their needs whilst at the same time allowed them to exercise choice and control. Robust systems and processes were in place to ensure the safe recruitment of staff with sufficient numbers of staff deployed to meet people’s needs.

Staff had received training in how to safeguard people from the risk of harm. Staff knew the signs to look for that might indicate that people were being abused and who to report any concerns to. Medicines were managed safely by staff who had been trained and assessed as competent to give medicines.

People were enabled to make choices about how they wanted to live their day to day lives including exploring interests and maintaining relationships that were important to them.

Staff were supported to have the skills and knowledge to be competent in their role. They received regular supervision, observations of practice and annual appraisals. A regular programme of training was provided with opportunities for specialist training relevant to meeting the needs of the people who used the service.

People were supported to have enough to eat and drink which reflected their preferences and helped them maintain a healthy balanced diet. People’s health and wellbeing was maintained. The service worked with health and social care professionals and were pro-active in referring people for assessment and treatment.

Staff had formed positive relationships with people who used the service. People’s privacy and dignity was respected at all times and they were treated with kindness and courtesy. People’s independence was encouraged and promoted.

The care and support people received was personalised and met their individual needs and preferences. People and their representatives, if appropriate, were involved in decisions about how their care and support was provided, so they felt listened to a

We inspected Grovelands Lodge on the 29 July 2015.

The service provides accommodation and support for up to four people with mental health issues. There were three people living at the service at the time of our inspection.

The service has 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 were cared for by staff that had been recruited and employed after appropriate checks were completed. There were enough staff available to support people.

Records were regularly updated and staff were provided with the information they needed to meet people’s needs. People's care and treatment was planned and delivered in a way that was intended to ensure people's safety and welfare.

Staff and the manager were able to explain to us what they would do to keep people safe and how they would protect their rights. Staff had been provided with training in safeguarding adults from abuse, Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

People were relaxed in the company of staff. Staff were able to demonstrate they knew people well. Staff were attentive to people's needs and treated people with dignity and respect.

People who used the service were provided with the opportunity to participate in activities which interested them; these activities were diverse to meet people’s social needs.

The service worked well with other professionals to ensure that people's health needs were met. Where appropriate, support and guidance was sought from health care professionals, including people’s G.Ps and community mental health nurses.

People knew how to raise a concern or make a complaint; any complaints were resolved efficiently and quickly.

The manager had a number of ways of gathering views on the service including holding meetings with people, staff and talking with relatives.

The manager and provider carried out a number of quality monitoring audits to ensure the service was running effectively. These included audits on care files, medication management and the environment.

One person told us that staff were, "All good, all nice, they treat me well...[I] like living here." Another person told us that staff were, "Alright" and "Suitable."

People told us that they could go out when they wanted to and partake of activities they enjoyed doing and did before using the service. We saw that staff were aware of people's individual preferences and respected these. We saw people being given the opportunity to make decisions about daily schedules and where they had support plans around these staff prompted people in a way that maintained their dignity. For example, one person preferred staying in bed later but required prompting to get up and dressed. We saw staff let that person stay in bed until they needed to get ready for an appointment but then tactfully and respectfully prompted them to get ready.

We spoke with all three people using the service. Comments made by them included that staff were, "Nice, I like them", that staff, "Do know how to support me".

Some people told us that staff try to steer them towards healthy lifestyle choices such as, what to eat. One person told us that staff help them to stay in touch with their family.

We observed good staff interactions with people. People moved around the home as they wished and were supported with their day to day needs by staff.

We found that since our inspection in November 2012 that improvements had been made to quality assurance systems and to the management of medicines. We saw that there was still further progress to be made in order to ensure that both these systems were robust.

We found that staff supervision and appraisals had been put in place. There was a staff training plan in place so that the provider could ensure that people were supported by suitably trained staff.

Records were generally well written and were kept securely.