Sibbertoft Manor Nursing Home provides accommodation for up to 41 older persons who require nursing or personal care. There were 38 people in residence when we inspected, some of whom had dementia care needs. At the last inspection, in August 2014, the service was rated ‘Good’. At this inspection we found that the service remained ‘Good’.

People continued to be kept safe by sufficient numbers of appropriately recruited nursing and care staff that had the skills and training they needed to do their job competently. People were consistently safeguarded from harm and poor practice. People’s medicines were appropriately and safely managed. People received timely treatment from other community based healthcare professionals when this was necessary.

People continued to be cared for by staff that had access to the support, supervision, training and on-going professional development that they required to work effectively in their roles. Risks associated with people’s capabilities to do what they could for themselves were assessed, reviewed, and acted upon to minimise the likelihood of accidents. People were supported to maintain good health and nutrition.

People continued to be treated with dignity and their individuality was respected. Their needs were met in a timely way by a compassionate staff team that was caring, friendly, and attentive.

People were encouraged and enabled to make choices and give their consent about their care and treatment. Decisions made by staff that affected the care and treatment of people that lacked capacity were implemented in the least restrictive way and in the person’s best interest.

People continued to be cared for in an ‘open culture’ where they and the staff team knew they would be listened to and that action would be taken if they were concerned about the quality of care provided. There continued to be good leadership with regard to the management of the home.

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and to pilot a new inspection process being introduced by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) which looks at the overall quality of the service.

This inspection was unannounced which meant the provider and staff did not know we were visiting. The last inspection took place on 20 December 2013 during which we found there were no breaches in the regulations.

Sibbertoft Manor Nursing Home provides nursing and personal care for up to 41 older people, some of whom may experience dementia related needs. People lived in one of two areas within the home; the main building or the Garden Wing.

The home is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the provider. At the time of our inspection a registered manager was employed at the service.

CQC is required by law to monitor the operation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and to report on what we find. DoLS are in place to protect people where they do not have capacity to make decisions and where it is considered necessary to restrict their freedom in some way, usually to protect themselves or others.  At the time of the inspection two people who used the service had their freedom restricted and the provider had acted in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 DoLS.

People who lived in the home and their relatives told us they were very happy with care provided. They said they felt safe and were treated with kindness and dignity.

Throughout our visit we saw examples of care and support which enabled people to maintain their independence as far as they could, to feel included in the way the home was run, and to receive care in the way they wished. Staff provided care and support in a warm and compassionate manner.

Staff understood people’s needs, wishes and preferences. They were appropriately trained to provide effective and safe care which met people’s individual needs. They understood their roles and responsibilities and were supported to maintain and develop their skills by way of regular supervision and training.

People we spoke with and their relatives told us they were able to raise any issues or concerns and action was taken to address them.

The manager consistently assessed and monitored the quality of the service provided for people. This included regularly asking people who lived in the home and their relatives for their views and opinions. Information from the assessment and monitoring process was used to make improvements to the quality of services people received.

We were accompanied on this visit by someone called an expert by experience. This person has personal experience of using a social care service. We take an expert by experience to inspections to talk to people to help us understand the experience of people living there.

The expert by experience observed the relationship between staff and people living in the home. He said: ‘’During the inspection visit, I …spoke to staff members who were all polite …and respecting the service users and visitors’’. A person told him: “I am treated properly.”

He spoke with four relatives who confirmed that the service was very good. We also spoke with a relative who told us that care was very good: ‘’staff are friendly and they do really care for people‘’.

This was a largely positive inspection. People and relatives spoken with said that care that staff supplied was very good. Some interaction between staff and people with dementia needed to emphasise people's abilities, not whether they could remember events. Staff always needed to apply brakes to wheelchairs when hoisting, to ensure people's safety.

There was one suggestion, to have more trips out for shopping for example.

We spoke with five people who lived in the service. We also spoke with four relatives about their views of the care provided.

The people we spoke with were very satisfied with staff and the care they received. Staff were seen to be very good at their jobs, friendly and caring. One person said: ‘’I would never want to move from here. Staff take a real interest in new and are always very pleasant‘’. Another person said: ‘’I have never needed to make any complaint. In fact the total opposite. Staff are excellent ‘’.

All the relatives we spoke with were also satisfied with the service: '’This place is brilliant. I have total peace of mind. The atmosphere in the home is very relaxed and it is kept completely clean’’, ‘'I am always kept informed of all important things. Staff could not be friendlier’’.