We inspected Heritage Care Centre on 20 and 26 September 2018. This was an unannounced inspection.

Heritage Care Centre has been established for a number of years and has previously been managed by different providers. This was the first inspection of the service since it was taken over by MMCG (2) Limited.

Heritage Care Centre is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Heritage Care Centre provides personal care with nursing for up to 72 older people, some with a diagnosis of dementia. The home is split into four units, two on the ground floor and two on the first floor.

There was a registered manager at the service. 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 and their relatives were extremely positive about the care and support they received from staff. We saw some examples of outstanding care being provided to people during the inspection, with staff showing real and genuine empathy towards people. The strong, person-centred culture at the service was embodied by the registered manager and this was passed down to the rest of the staff team.

Respect for privacy and dignity was embedded in the home and people were supported to maintain relationships that were important to them and engage in things that were of personal importance to them as individuals.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. People were only deprived of their liberty to receive care and treatment when this was in their best interests, the provider sought legal authorisation to do so under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA).

The provider demonstrated its commitment to promote a positive culture within the home by being open and transparent to new ideas and collaborative working which had a positive impact on the care provided to people. We received positive feedback from health and social care professionals about the good working relationship they had with the service.

There was a strong emphasis on quality assurance within the service which was led by a quality team and the internal management team within the service. There was an emphasis on continuous improvement which was done through the results of any audits, learning from complaints and incidents and accidents. These were all used as a learning opportunity, and feedback was provided to staff to drive improvements.

The staff team were recruited on the values that they demonstrated and were motivated. There was a high level of compliance in relation to staff training and said they felt well supported. There were opportunities to progress within the organisation.

People told us they felt safe and their rights were protected by staff. People’s support needs, including in relation to their medicines, nutrition and ongoing health needs were managed well. Staff made appropriate and timely referrals to health professionals if needed and acted upon recommendations given.