Strode Park House is a 55 bedded, early Victorian Mansion House set in 14 acres of gardens. The service is staffed with nurses, therapists and carers to meet the needs of a wide range of people with physical disabilities. There are four separate ‘wings’ in the service: New Wing, Basil Jones Wing, Patton Wing and Rees Wing. The service provides long-term residential or nursing care, respite care, neuro rehabilitation, and activities including an on-site wheelchair accessible theatre. The facilities are either purpose built or adapted to meet the needs of people with disabilities. A t the time of the inspection there were 50 people living at the service.

There was a registered manager employed at the service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 registered manager was responsible for the day to day control of the service.

At the last inspection the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

People were protected from the risks of abuse, discrimination and avoidable harm. People and staff embraced each other’s differences. People told us they felt safe and would not hesitate to speak with staff if they were worried about anything. Staff knew how to report any concerns, who to report them to and felt confident that action would be taken.

People were involved in discussing any risks to make sure they had the freedom, choice and control of their care. Risks to people were assessed, identified, reduced and monitored. Action was taken by staff to keep people as safe as possible. When people needed specialist equipment this was regularly checked to make sure it was safe to use. The premises were maintained to keep people safe.

People were supported by sufficient numbers of trained staff who knew them and their preferences well. The registered manager continuously monitored staffing levels and had contingency plans to cover any unexpected absence. Recruitment checks were completed to make sure staff were honest, reliable and safe to work with people.

People told us they received their medicines on time. Medicines were stored, managed and disposed of safely. Medicines errors were recorded, investigated and action plans implemented. Staff were trained to support people with their medicines and their competency was regularly reviewed.

People received effective care from staff who were trained and supervised to carry out their roles. The provider’s HR department monitored staff training to ensure refresher courses were booked on time to help keep staff knowledge up to date. New staff shadowed experienced colleagues to get to know people and their preferred routines. Staff met with their line manager for regular one to one supervision to discuss their personal development.

Staff understood their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act. Meetings were held with the relevant parties to make decisions in people’s best interest. CQC monitors the operation of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) which applies to care services. These safeguards protect the rights of people using services by ensuring that if there are any restrictions to their freedom and liberty, these have been agreed by the local authority as being required to protect the person from harm. DoLS applications had been made to the relevant supervisory body in line with guidance

People were supported to eat a healthy diet and to drink enough. People told us they enjoyed the food. Staff monitored people’s nutrition and hydration needs to help them stay healthy. Risks to people with complex eating and drinking needs were identified and monitored and a speech and language therapist pr

We spoke with people who used the service and also observed the interactions between people and staff. There were 51 people using the service at the time of our inspection. We observed how people reacted and responded to see if people indicated they were happy, bored, discontented, angry or sad. Everyone we spoke with expressed that they were happy living at Strode Park House. One person commented, “I am quite settled here”.

We found that people who used the service were asked to give consent and were involved in the decisions about the care and support they received. People told us that they were asked for their consent before any care took place and their wishes respected. One person told us, “I have been involved in what support I need from the start”.

People told us that they received the care and support they needed to remain well and healthy. We saw records to show how people's health needs were supported and that the service worked closely with health and social care professionals to maintain and improve people's health and well-being.

We observed that the provider had provided an environment that was suitably designed and adequately maintained. The home was clean and free from offensive odours.

We found that there were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff to meet people’s needs.

Systems were in place to monitor the service that people received to ensure that the service was satisfactory and safe.

We made an unannounced visit to the service and spoke to the people who use the service, the registered manager and staff members. There were 51 people using the service at the time of our visit.

We used a number of different methods to help us understand the experiences of people using the service. This was because the people using the service had complex needs which meant they were not all able to tell us their experiences.

We spoke to some people and also observed the interactions between the people and the staff. We observed how people responded and reacted with the staff and we observed to see if people indicated they were happy, bored, discontented, angry or sad.

People told us or expressed that they felt safe and well looked after. We were told that staff listened to them.

One person said “I get everything I need”. Another person told us that “Staff are very polite, friendly and understanding”.

Staff engaged with people in a warm and positive way and supported people where needed.

People told us that there were activities to choose from and that they enjoyed them. One person said “I love the crafts, cross-stitch and gardening”. On the day of our inspection 15 people attended a quiz in the morning and there was a music activity session in the afternoon.

This inspection took place on 12 and 14 August 2015, and was unannounced.

Strode Park House is a 55 bedded, early Victorian Mansion House set in 14 acres of gardens. The service is staffed with nurses, therapists and carers to meet the needs of a wide range of people with physical disabilities.

There are four separate ‘wings’ in the service: New Wing, Basil Jones Wing, Patton Wing and Rees Wing. The service provides long-term residential or nursing care, respite care, neuro rehabilitation, and activities including an on-site wheelchair accessible theatre. The facilities are either purpose built or adapted to meet the needs of people with disabilities. At the time of the inspection there were 49 people living at the service.

A registered manager was in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 registered manager was not present on the days of the inspection.

People told us they felt safe living at the service. Staff understood the importance of keeping people safe. Risks to people’s safety were identified, assessed and managed appropriately. People received their medicines safely and were protected against the risks associated with the unsafe use and management of medicines. Staff knew how to protect people from the risk of abuse. Accidents and incidents were recorded and analysed to reduce the risks of further events.

Recruitment processes were in place to check that staff were of good character. People were supported by sufficient numbers of staff with the right mix of skills, knowledge and experience. There was a training programme in place to make sure staff had the skills and knowledge to carry out their roles effectively.

People were confident in the support they received from staff. People and their relatives said they thought the staff were trained to be able to meet their needs or the needs of their loved ones. People were provided with a choice of healthy food and drinks which ensured that their nutritional needs were met. People’s health was monitored and people were supported to see healthcare professionals when they needed to.

The registered manager and staff understood how the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 was applied to ensure decisions made for people without capacity were only made in their best interests. CQC monitors the operation of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) which applies to care homes. These safeguards protect the rights of people using services by ensuring that if there are any restrictions to their freedom and liberty, these have been agreed by the local authority as being required to protect the person from harm. DoLS applications had been made to the relevant supervisory body in line with guidance.

People and their relatives were happy with the standard of care at the service. People and their relatives were involved with the planning of their care. People’s needs were assessed and care and support was planned and delivered in line with their individual care needs. Staff were kind, caring and compassionate and knew people well. People were encouraged and supported to stay as independent as possible.

People were supported by staff to keep occupied and there was a range of meaningful social and educational activities available, on a one to one and a group basis, to reduce the risk of social isolation. An activities co-ordinator and an activities support worker organised daily activities.

People and their relatives were encouraged to provide feedback to the provider to continuously improve the quality of the service delivered.

The registered manager and deputy manager coached and mentored staff through regular one to one supervision. The registered manager and nursing director worked with the staff each day to maintain oversight of the service. People and their relatives told us that the service was well run. Staff said that the service was well led, had an open culture and that they felt supported in their roles. Staff were clear what was expected of them and their roles and responsibilities.

Services that provide health and social care to people are required to inform CQC of important events that happen in the service. CQC check that appropriate action had been taken. The registered manager had submitted notifications to CQC in an appropriate and timely manner in line with CQC guidelines.