The inspection took place on 26 September 2018 and was unannounced. It was the first inspection of this service under the new provider.

Oriel Lodge is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Oriel Lodge accommodates 20 people in one adapted building. At the time of our inspection 16 people were 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 living at Oriel Lodge told us they felt safe and cared for. They told us staff were caring and looked after them well. A relative told us they were very happy with the care at the service. It was evident people felt relaxed and comfortable in the presence of staff. Staff were attentive in a discreet and relaxed manner and people were responded to quickly.

People were very positive about the food, telling us it was home-cooked, there was always a choice and they had enough to eat and drink. People were supported with eating their meal if they needed. However, staff encouraged independence and supported people to do as much as they could themselves.

The service had an activities co-ordinator and people had access to a range of activities; this included being supported to go out to the park and other activities.

Staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act and worked within this to help people make their own decisions where possible. Decisions were made in people’s best interests following capacity assessments.

Staff morale was good. Staff told us they enjoyed working at Oriel Lodge and felt they delivered a good standard of care.

The service was well-managed. The provider and register manager had a clear overview of what was happening in the service. They identified any improvements needed and put plans in place to address these. Any accidents and incidents were followed up in order to reduce the risk of reocurrence. The staff team had developed good falls prevention systems.