Queen Ann House is a residential care home registered to provide accommodation and care to 22 people with mental illness. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

At the time of this inspection there were 18 people living at the service. In an adjoining house seven people lived in a supported living environment. The provider did not provide personal care to these people and so this service is not regulated by the Care Quality Commission.

At our last inspection on 20 and 21 June 2016 we rated the service Good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

This inspection took place over two days (on 21 February and 6 March 2018) and was unannounced. We brought this comprehensive inspection forward as there had been two safeguarding concerns reported to CQC. These were being investigated by the local authority at the time of the inspection.

The majority of people said they were happy in the home and felt safe and well supported. Staff demonstrated a good level of understanding of safeguarding and were able to explain procedures to respond to allegations of abuse.

Care plans contained risk assessments which gave guidance to staff on how to support people by minimising any risks to their safety or wellbeing. Staff ensured that people were involved in making decisions about their care and support. Care plans were reviewed monthly or as people’s needs changed.

There were enough staff employed to safely meet the needs of people living at the service. Staff recruitment had not been consistently robust which put people at risk. We highlighted the issue we found to the registered manager who addressed the issue and we have made a recommendation about safe recruitment practices. Staff received training and supervision and felt supported by the management team.

The service had good systems and processes in place to ensure the safe management of people’s medicines.

People received enough to eat and drink to meet their individual needs and timely action was taken by staff when they were concerned about people's health. Staff made referrals to healthcare professionals to ensure people's health was maintained and the service had a wellbeing coordinator who took overall responsibility in supporting people with medical appointments.

People and relatives were generally positive about the service and the staff who supported them. Most people told us they liked the staff and were treated with dignity and kindness.

The service was clean to an adequate standard. The registered manager was making improvements to the environment such as setting up a “wet room” which was suitable for people who had difficulties with standard showers.

A complaints procedure was in place and people and their relatives said they felt comfortable raising concerns and that their views would be listened to and acted on.

People, relatives and staff spoke positively of the management team. Quality assurance processes were in place to monitor the quality of care delivered.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Where people's liberty was deprived, the registered manager had applied for authorisation from the appropriate authority.

The provider had processes in place to ensure that the quality of care was regularly monitored and checked and we found that lear

This inspection took place on 20 and 21 June 2016 and was unannounced.

Queen Ann House is a care home that provides accommodation and care to a maximum of 22 people who have mental health issues. On the day of the inspection there were 19 people residing at the home.

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 told us they felt safe at the home and safe with the staff who supported them. They told us that staff were kind and respectful and they were satisfied with the numbers of staff on duty at the home.

The registered manager and staff at the home had identified and highlighted potential risks to people’s safety and had thought about and recorded how these risks should be reduced.

Staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and told us they would presume a person could make their own decisions about their care and treatment in the first instance. Staff told us it was not right to make choices for people when they could make choices for themselves.

People had good access to healthcare professionals such as doctors, dentists, chiropodists and opticians and any changes to people’s needs were responded to appropriately and quickly.

People told us staff listened to them and respected their choices and decisions.

People using the service, their relatives and staff were positive about the registered manager and his management of the home. They confirmed that they were asked about the quality of the service and had made comments about this. People told us the registered manager took their views into account in order to improve service delivery.