This was an unannounced comprehensive inspection which we carried out on 13 April 2017. We last inspected Inglewood in November 2015. At that inspection we found the service was meeting all of the legal requirements in force at the time.

Inglewood is a residential home for up to 40 people. On the day of our visit there were 28 people living in the home. The home cares for older adults, some of whom may be living with dementia. The home is one of the services operated by Cumbria Care, the in-house provider for Cumbria County Council.

The property is a two storey building with a passenger lift to assist people to access the accommodation on the first floor. People live in small units, each with a sitting and dining area. One unit specialises in providing care for people living with dementia.

The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 feedback we received from people living in the home was excellent; they expressed great satisfaction with the caring attitude and the support received. People were all very enthusiastic about how the way in which care was given made a real difference to their lives. One person told us, “There’s never a dull moment, everything’s on offer here if you want it. We’ve had visiting donkeys, owls, rabbits! We go out for meals, trips to the garden centre, you name it. We’ve done it!”

The home had a very strong leadership team who promoted clear values and an open culture. The registered manager demonstrated a very good understanding of the importance of effective quality assurance systems in delivering a high quality service. We found the home to be very well run in order to meet the needs of each individual living in the home and their views were highly valued and acted upon.

The culture of the service was positive, clearly person centred and inclusive. People, relatives and professionals consistently gave us positive feedback about how the home was personalised to meet people's individual needs. One person living in the home told us, “I cannot praise the management and staff highly enough. From the minute I arrived they couldn’t do enough for me.”

People and relatives said staff were exceptionally kind and caring. One relative told us, “My [family member] is very happy and cared for by wonderful people. I cannot praise the Inglewood family highly enough. They go above and beyond their remits. A special place indeed.” Another relative said, “An exceptional service providing love and care.”

A real feature of the home was how engaged and in charge people were made to feel. One person said, “Oh yes I’m definitely in control. I have a free reign to live my life here.” A visiting social care professional told us, “Inglewood is home like in how it looks and how it behaves.”

The home had become a community resource and hub for a wide range of community groups and this was a really positive feature for those living in the home. One person told us that this helped them to keep active and part of the local community. People joined in lots of activities and groups, such as a knitting group, The Stroke Club, a cake decorating club and a club for people with disabilities to meet and socialise.

Staff were very highly motivated and proud of the service. They were well trained, supervised and supported for their individual roles. The care and support offered to people living with dementia was exemplary with staff receiving training from Sterling University on current good practice in this field. Staff were skilful in translating this expertise in a way that was both professional and extremely caring.

People were protected as staff had received training about safeguarding