This inspection took place on 12 and 21 December 2017 and was unannounced. The Squirrels is a care home that provides accommodation for up to nine adults with learning disabilities. There were nine people living at the home when we visited. The home is based on two floors. The second floor was accessible via stairs. There were communal rooms and a garden which people could access. All rooms were single occupancy.

There was a registered manager at 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’s relatives and staff told us the management team at the service was effective and approachable. The registered manager had worked in partnership with people, relatives, healthcare professionals and others to provide resources and develop structures to promote people’s health and wellbeing. The provider had systems in place to support the registered manager in their role and monitor the quality of the care people received.

There were sufficient staff available to meet people’s needs. People were supported by staff who were committed to providing personalised and flexible care. Staff understood the importance of people’s routines and preferences and were knowledgeable about guidance to help keep people safe. The service had policies in place to promote people’s equality and diversity.

Care plans were developed with people’s families and other health professionals and were regularly reviewed as people’s needs changed. The provider had made adaptations to the service to help ensure it was suitable to meet people’s needs.

Staff understood the need to gain consent from people before providing care and used a range of strategies to promote people’s choice, independence and communication. People were encouraged to participate in a range of activities, which were carefully planned in order to maximise people’s enjoyment and engagement.

Staff received training and ongoing support in their role which gave them the skills to provide effective support to people. Staff had received training in safeguarding and understood the steps required in order to keep people safe from harm. The provider also had systems in place where people, staff and relatives could report concerns. People’s relatives told us that the registered manager acted upon feedback to make positive changes where required.

The provider and registered manager completed a series of audits and checks to monitor the quality and safety of the service. These were effective in identifying areas which needed developing or changing. The registered manager used reflective practice when incidents occurred to help staff implement learning to improve their skills and knowledge. There were systems and processes in place to protect people from the risk of infections.

People were supported to access healthcare services and follow a diet in line with their preferences. There were systems in place manage people’s medicines and the staff were working with people, families and health professionals to ensure they were prescribed the appropriate level of medicines.