We carried out this unannounced inspection on 22 and 23 May 2017. Our last comprehensive inspection of this home was carried out 27 November 2014. At that inspection we found a breach of legal requirements because care had not always been planned and delivered in a way that met people’s needs and ensured their welfare.

We carried out a focused inspection of the service on 23 March 2015 to check the actions the provider had following the comprehensive inspection on 27 November 2014. At the focused inspection we found that the provider had made the required improvements and was meeting legal requirements.

When we carried out this comprehensive inspection in May 2017 we saw that the actions taken to improve the service had been sustained and people continued to receive a good service.

Risedale at Lonsdale Nursing Home provides accommodation for up to 93 people who need personal and nursing care. The home is close to the centre of Barrow-in-Furness. Accommodation is provided on two floors and there are passenger lifts to help people to access the first floor. The home has a range of equipment suitable to meet the needs of people living there. The home mainly provides support to older adults and to people who have a physical disability. There were 91 people living in the home when we carried out this inspection.

Up until August 2016 the home had been registered as two services, Risedale at Lonsdale Nursing Home and Risedale at St Georges Nursing Home. In August 2016 the registered provider merged the two services under one registration as Risedale at Lonsdale Nursing Home.

There were two registered managers employed in the home, each responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operation of specific areas of the service. 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 were well cared for and were treated with kindness and respect.

There were enough staff to provide the support people required. The staff were trained and supported to be able to provide a good quality of care.

People were safe and protected from the risk of abuse. Risks to people’s safety had been managed to protect them from harm.

The environment was clean and comfortable and there was suitable equipment to meet people’s needs.

People’s privacy, dignity and independence were promoted.

The staff knew people well and care was planned and delivered to meet people’s needs.

People were included in planning and agreeing to the care they received. They were supported to access appropriate health services to maintain their health and received their medicines safely and as they needed.

The staff in the home respected people’s rights. The principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 were followed where people were not able to make important decisions about their care. 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.

People received a choice of meals and drinks. They enjoyed a range of activities in the home and in the local community. Visitors were made welcome in the home and people could maintain relationships that were important to them.

The registered provider and registered managers carried out checks on the quality and safety of the service. People were asked for their views about the service they received.

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 27 November 2014 at which a breach of legal requirements was found. This was because some aspects of the service were not responsive to people’s needs. Care was not always planned and delivered in a way that met people’s needs and ensured their welfare. Some information in people’s care records was inaccurate, this meant care staff did not always have accurate information about how to support people. We also found that action was not always taken promptly when a person’s needs changed.

After the comprehensive inspection, the provider wrote to us to say what they would do to meet legal requirements in relation to the breach. We undertook a focused inspection on the 23 March 2015 to check that they had followed their plan and to confirm that they now met legal requirements.

This report only covers our findings in relation to this topic. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Risedale at Lonsdale Nursing Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Risedale at Lonsdale Nursing Home provides accommodation for up to 42 people who need personal and nursing care. The home is close to the centre of Barrow-in-Furness and shares a site with Risedale at St Georges Nursing Home. Accommodation is provided on two floors and there is a passenger lift to help people to access the first floor. The home has a range of equipment suitable to meet the needs of people living there. The home mainly provides support to older people. There were 38 people living in the home when we carried out this inspection.

There was a registered manager employed 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

At our focused inspection on the 23 March 2015, we found that the provider had followed their plan which they had told us would be completed by the 1 February 2015 and legal requirements had been met.

Everyone we spoke with told us that they were well cared for in this home. They told us that the staff knew the support they required and provided this at the time they needed.

Care records had been reviewed. Thorough assessments had been carried out of the support people needed. The staff in the home had accurate and up to date information about each person, the care they required and how to support people.

People were supported by appropriate specialist health care services. This helped to ensure they received the support they required to meet their needs.

We carried out this unannounced inspection on 27 November 2014. We last inspected this service on 19 November 2013. At that inspection we found that the provider was meeting all of the regulations that we assessed.

Risedale at Lonsdale Nursing Home provides accommodation for up to 42 people who need personal and nursing care. The home is close to the centre of Barrow-in-Furness and shares a site with Risedale at St Georges Nursing Home. Accommodation is provided on two floors and there is a passenger lift to help people to access the first floor. The home has a range of equipment suitable to meet the needs of people living there. The home mainly provides support to older people. There were 38 people living in the home when we carried out this inspection.

There was a new manager employed at the home and they had applied to be the registered manager of the service. 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.

The new manager had previously been the registered manager at another home carried on by the provider and had extensive experience of managing a residential service for older people.

We found that some aspects of the service were not responsive to people’s needs. Care was not always planned and delivered in a way that met people’s needs and ensured their welfare. Some information in people’s care records was inaccurate, this meant care staff did not always have accurate information about how to support people. We also found that action was not always taken promptly when a person’s needs changed.

Everyone we spoke with told us people were safe and well cared for in this home. People knew how they could raise a concern about their safety or the quality of the service they received.

There were enough staff to provide the support that people needed. People received their care from staff who they knew and who knew how they wanted to be supported.

People were included in decisions about their care. The staff knew how people communicated and gave people the time they needed to make choices about their lives and to communicate their decisions.

The staff spent time with people and understood that this was an essential part of their role. The staff were trained and supported to provide people with the care they required.

People were provided with meals and drinks that they enjoyed. People who required support to eat or drink received this is a patient and kind way.

The manager of the home was knowledgeable about The Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. The Metal Capacity Act Code of Practice was followed when people were not able to make important decisions themselves. The manager understood their responsibility to ensure people’s rights were protected.

The atmosphere in the home was open and inclusive. People who lived there and their visitors were asked for their views and their comments were acted on. There was no restriction on when people could visit the home. People were able to see their friends and families when they wanted.

We found a breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010. Care had not always been planned and delivered in a way that met people’s needs or ensured their welfare. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

People we spoke with told us this was “a good home” and said the staff at Risedale at Lonsdale Nursing Home provided a good quality of care.

Everyone we spoke with said they were confident that people were well looked after and safe in this home. People told us they had “no complaints at all” about the care provided. They said they knew how they could raise any concerns but one person said, “You’ll not find anything to fault here, it’s brilliant”.

Throughout our inspection we saw that visitors were made welcome in the home. One person, who visited the home regularly, told us they had never seen or heard anything which caused them concern. They told us, “The staff are all wonderful”.

We saw that throughout our inspection people were included in decisions about their care and the choices they made were respected. Some people who lived in this home were not able to make important decisions about their lives. We saw that appropriate people had been included in making decisions on their behalf. The decisions made were in the individuals’ best interests and maintained their safety with the least possible restriction on their liberty and independence.

People told us,

“This is a lovely place”,

“The staff are super, they work so hard”, and said,

“You won’t find better than this”.

A number of people who lived in the home could not easily express their views about the service or the care they received. We observed people in communal areas of the home to assess how they were supported by staff in the home. We saw that people were well cared for and were comfortable and confident around the staff working in the home. People were treated with respect and given choices in a way they could understand. We saw the staff respected the decisions people made.

People we spoke with told us Risedale at Lonsdale Nursing Home was a good home and said they would recommend the service to other people. People told us they felt safe in the home and said the staff treated them, their families and possessions with respect.

People who lived in the home told us:

“The staff are lovely, they really care”,

and said “I really enjoy the meals and we get some lovely puddings too”.

A number of people who lived in the home could not easily express their wishes or their views about the service. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a specific way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

From our observations we saw that people received the support they needed and were given choices about their lives in the home. We observed that staff treated people with respect and encouraged people to do as much for themselves as they were able. This ensured people maintained their independence and control over their lives.