About the service: Hurstway Care Home is a residential care home that was providing nursing and personal care to older people and people with physical disabilities. They were registered to provide care for 42 people and there were 36 living at the home when we visited. The accommodation consists of two floors each of which has communal areas with a small kitchen on the first floor.

People’s experience of using this service:

The service continued to meet the characteristics of good.

• The risks to people’s health and wellbeing were assessed and action taken to reduce them. People were protected by staff who understood how to protect them from avoidable harm. There were enough staff deployed to keep people safe. People’s medicines were well managed and staff understood how to reduce the risk of the spread of infection. There were systems to learn from mistakes including the detailed analysis of accidents and incidents.

• Staff received training to enable them to do their jobs well. People were provided with care and support which protected them from discrimination. They were supported to maintain a healthy diet and had access to other health and social care agencies when needed. 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. The environment was adapted to meet their needs.

• There were kind and caring relationships between people and staff which were based on dignity and respect. People felt involved with decisions and that staff respected their wishes. Families were welcomed at any time.

• People had care and support provided which met their preferences. Complaints were handled appropriately and line with the provider’s complaints policy. People did not currently receive end of life care but people had discussed their wishes with staff.

• Staff enjoyed working at the service and felt respected and valued. People could give their views about how the service could develop and improve. The provider’s quality assurance processes were effective in identifying potential risks to people’s safety. There was a continued focus on learning, development and improvement.

More information is in the full report.

Rating at last inspection: The service was last inspected on 24 February 2016 and was rated good.

Why we inspected: This was a scheduled inspection based on the date the service was registered.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

This inspection was carried out on 24 February 2016 and was unannounced. The service was last inspected on 18 March 2015 and we judged them to be compliant with the assessed regulations. However, we judged that some areas of the service needed improvement. This included staffing levels and auditing the service for quality. At this inspection we saw that improvements had been made to these areas.

Hurstway Care Home provides personal and nursing care to up to 42 people. Some of the people that lived there were living with dementia others suffered from illnesses associated with old age or physical disability. At the time of our inspection there were 37 people living there.

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 were protected from harm because staff understood their responsibility to take action to protect people and the provider had systems in place to minimise the risk of abuse.

People were involved in planning their care and management of any risks identified in relation to the care they received. People received care and support from staff that were trained and supported to carry out their roles.

There were sufficient staff available to meet people’s needs and recruitment processes ensured that suitable staff were employed.

People were supported to receive their medicines as prescribed.

People were supported to make choices and decisions about the care they received. People’s human rights were protected by staff that were caring and that ensured that privacy and dignity was maintained.

People received food and drinks and support from healthcare professionals to ensure they maintained good health as far as possible.

People were supported to maintain contact with people important to them and were able to express their views about the service.

Systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service provided.

Our inspection took place on the 18 March 2015 and was unannounced. This was the first inspection since the service had been registered with us on 28 April 2014.

Hurstway Care Home provides personal and nursing care to up to 42 people. Some of the people that lived there were living with dementia others suffered from illnesses associated with old age or physical disability. Accommodation is provided over two floors and all bedrooms are singly occupied and have en suite facilities of at least a wash basin and toilet. There is a passenger lift that connects the two floors. There are lounge and dining areas on both floors of the home.

On the day of our inspection 28 people were living in the home with people moving in on a gradual basis to prevent any negative impact on the people that already lived there.

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.

Interactions between staff and the people who lived in the home were generally positive, friendly, polite and caring but one person’s experience was not always like this. All the relatives and people spoken with told us that they were happy with the care provided.

All the staff spoken with understood their responsibilities around the protection of people from harm and abuse. Staff were knowledgeable about people’s needs and any associated risks. Staff had received training in how to ensure that people were protected from risks and injury.

On the day of our inspection some people had to wait for assistance as the staffing levels and skills did not provide sufficient support to people in a timely manner. This meant that people had to wait to be assisted with personal care and their midday meal was delayed.

People were supported to receive their medicines but there were some improvements that could be made to the recording of medicines to ensure that people received their medicines as prescribed.

People received care that was personalised and that they had consented to and were involved in the planning and delivery of their care. Where people were not able to give consent people who knew their needs had been consulted so that they received appropriate care and their rights were protected.

People were supported to receive the food and drink they needed to remain healthy. People were supported to have their health care needs met.

People were supported to maintain contact with people important to them.

We saw that there were some systems to monitor the quality of the service provided but these could be improved. The service was well led and there was an inclusive environment that enabled people, staff and relatives to raise concerns and ideas and people told us that they felt they were listened to.

You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.