This unannounced, comprehensive inspection took place on 14 February 2017. We last inspected the service in August 2015 when it was rated overall as ‘Good’. Following that inspection the provider, Cumbria County Council, was re-registered in October 2015. This is the first inspection since the re-registration process was completed.

Moot Lodge is a care home registered to provide accommodation for up to19 older people requiring personal care.

There was a registered manager in post on the day of our inspection. 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 who used this service were safe. The staff knew how to identify if a person was at risk of abuse and the action to take to protect people from harm. Risks to people’s safety had been assessed and measures put in place to manage any hazards identified.

People had access to external health care services which ensured their health care needs were met. These included GPs, district nurses, dentist and opticians. Staff had completed training in safe handling of medicines and the medicines administration records were up to date. Protocols were in place for the receipt and disposal of all medicines that came into the home.

We found that people’s rights were protected because the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 Code of practice and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) were being followed.

People were treated with kindness and respect. They were included in planning and agreeing to the support they received. The care staff knew the people they were supporting well and respected the choices they made about their care. The staff knew how people communicated and gave them support to make and express choices about their lives.

There was a complaints procedure in place that outlined how to make a complaint and how long it would take to deal with. People were aware of how to raise a complaint and who to speak to about any concerns they had. The registered manager understood the importance of acknowledging and improving areas of poor practice if people found the need to make a complaint.

There was an appropriate and detailed internal quality audit system in place to monitor the quality of the service provided.