We inspected the service on 12 December 2016. The visit was unannounced.

Our last inspection took place on 27 July 2016 at that time we found the service was meeting the regulations.

Oaklands residential home provides accommodation and personal care for up to 21 older people. The home is spaced over two floors with bedrooms on each floor. Each bedroom has en-suite facilities and there is access to both floors via a lift. The home has a well maintained garden and also has car parking facilities.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in the home. ‘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 we spoke with told us they enjoyed living at Oaklands and were very complimentary about the staff who supported them. They told us they felt safe, enjoyed the food and received good support with their health needs.

People consented to care and had the freedom to make their own choices. People were relaxed in the company of staff. Staff interactions were friendly, respectful and caring. Visiting relatives were happy with the standard of care and told us the service was well led.

People’s individual care plans included information about who was important to them, such as family and friends. We saw people had varied individual interests they engaged in and were supported to be involved in a lot of activities in the home.

Staffing levels were sufficient to ensure people were supported with all their care needs and activities. The home had a variety of activities which ensured that people had choices and could be stimulated and motivated to take part throughout their day if they wanted.

Staff understood how to safeguard people and knew the people they were supporting very well. Medicines were managed consistently and safely.

People lived in a safe environment. Rooms were decorated to individual taste and people could choose what items to keep there.

Information for people was displayed in the home and included leaflets about people’s rights and standards people should expect.

Staff we spoke with told us they were well supported by their colleagues and management. We looked at four staff personnel files and saw the recruitment process in place ensured that staff were suitable and safe to work in the home The staff received appropriate training, supervision and appraisals. This meant that staff had the right skills and knowledge for their role.

Everyone we spoke with was complimentary about the registered manager. Staff told us the home had made positive changes over the last year. People had the opportunity to comment on the service and influence service delivery.

There were effective systems in place to monitor the quality of the service.

We inspected the service on 27July 2015. The visit was unannounced.

Our last inspection took place on 23 July 2014, at that time we found the service was meeting the regulations.

Oakland’s residential home provides accommodation and personal care for up to 21 older people. The home is spaced over two floors with bedrooms on each floor. Each bedroom has en-suite facilities and there is access to both floors via a lift. The home has a well maintained garden and also has car parking facilities.

At the time of our inspection there was a new registered manager in the home. ‘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.’

During our visit we saw people looked well cared for. People had their hair brushed and also some people had their own jewellery and make up on. We observed staff speaking in a caring and respectful manner to people who lived in the home. Staff demonstrated that they knew people’s individual characters, likes and dislikes.

We found the service was meeting the legal requirements relating to Deprivation of Liberty

Safeguards (DoLS).

The service was meeting the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. We felt staff understood how to help people make day-to-day decisions and were aware of their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

Medicines were administered to people by trained staff and people received their prescribed medication when they needed it. Appropriate arrangements were in place for the ordering and disposal of medicines however, we found there were issues relating to the storage of medication.

We spoke with staff who told us about the action they would take if they suspected someone was at risk of abuse. We found that this was consistent with the guidance within the safeguarding policy and procedure in place at the home.

People told us the food at the home was good and that they had enough to eat and drink. We observed lunch being served to people and saw that people were given sufficient amounts of food to meet their nutritional needs.

We saw the home had activities in place for people to participate in, however on the day of our inspection there were no activities happening within the home. The registered manager said that he had arranged a meeting in July 2015 to meet with people in the home, families and staff to look at new activities. This meeting was evidenced on the day of our inspection as the meeting dates were up on the notice board.

We looked at three staff personnel files and saw the recruitment process in place ensured that staff were suitable and safe to work in the home. Staff we spoke with told us they received supervisions every three months and had annual appraisals carried out by the registered manager. We saw minutes from staff meetings which showed they had taken place.

There were effective systems in place to monitor the quality of the service.

We found that staff had training throughout their induction and also received annual refresher training in areas such as care plan assessment, Mental Capacity Act 2005, DoLS, safeguarding, health and safety, fire safety, challenging behaviour, first aid and infection control. This meant people living at the home could be assured that staff caring for them had up to date skills they required for their role.