Merrymeet residential care home is a large, extended detached property situated in the Salford area of Manchester. The home is registered to provide personal care and accommodation for up to19 people with enduring mental health issues.

This was an unannounced inspection that took place on the 22 January 2017. There were 19 people using the service at the time of the inspection.

This was the first rated inspection for this service using the Care Quality Commission (CQC) new methodology.

We last inspected this service on 21 August 2014 and found the service was compliant in the areas inspected.

The home had a manager who was registered with the CQC. 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.

Staff were able to demonstrate their understanding of the safeguarding and whistle-blowing procedures and knew what to do if they suspected that abuse had occurred.

We found that people were cared for by sufficient numbers of suitably skilled and experienced staff who were safely recruited. We saw that staff had received the essential training to enable them to do their job effectively.

People were happy with the care and support they received and spoke positively of the caring attitude of the staff. Staff we spoke with had a good understanding of the care and support that people required.

Food stocks were good and meals provided were varied and nutritionally balanced. People spoken with confirmed the food was good and there were plenty of choices offered.

We found system for managing medicines was safe and we saw how staff worked in cooperation with other health and social care professionals to ensure that people received appropriate care and treatment.

We saw there were risk assessments in place for the safety of the premises. The home was clean and well maintained. Procedures were in place to prevent and control the spread of infection.

People’s care records contained enough information to guide staff on the care and support required. People and their relatives were involved and consulted about the development of their care plans. This helped ensure the wishes of people who used the service were considered and planned for.

Appropriate arrangements were in place to assess whether people were able to consent to their care and treatment plans. The provider was meeting the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

To help ensure that people received safe and effective care systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service provided. Regular checks were undertaken on all aspects of running the home.