The inspection visit at The Hamptons took place on 22 and 24 August 2018 and was unannounced.

The Hamptons provides nursing care and treatment of disease, disorder or injury for a maximum of 76 people who live with dementia and/or a physical disability. At the time of our inspection there were 39 people living at the home. The Hamptons is situated in a residential area of Lytham St Annes close to local shops and amenities. There are two floors offering single room accommodation for people who live at the home. There are ample toilet and bathing facilities and multiple large communal areas for people's use.

The Hamptons is a ‘care home.’ 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, both of which we looked at during this inspection.

A registered manager was in place. 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 Hamptons was newly registered on 21 August 2017. Consequently, this was their first inspection. A visiting professional said the home had come a long way in a short time and had really developed into a very good service.

During this inspection, people and their relatives told us staff went above and beyond in the delivery of their care. One relative commented The Hamptons was, “A lovely home run by lovely people.” The team approach achieved enhanced quality of life for people and helped them to flourish through an excellent, person-centred culture. We found multiple examples of how staff attitude and care delivery had a highly positive impact on the lives of those who lived at the home. A relative said staff respect was, “Absolutely fantastic.”

The Hamptons supported people with complex mental health issues and used positive, self-affirming language in every aspect of care. Support plans focused on the individual’s skills, rather than their dependency. Records were of a high standard and centred on understanding the person and jointly made decisions about the model of support they desired. Care plans detailed each person’s cultural, spiritual and emotional support, along with their wishes in relation to treatment.

We saw staff strengthened this through compassionate engagement, meaningful conversation, appropriate touch and an in-depth knowledge about each person. The registered manager told us staff worked tirelessly to help people live life to the full and regain their freedom and independence.

The provider heavily invested in the home and respected the importance of a quality environment to people’s care. Those who lived there said the ambience had a huge impact on their welfare because they felt it was their home. We saw this was highly effective upon their care and wellbeing because they were fully relaxed during the day.

Excellent staffing levels meant engagement, fun activities, and one-to-one support was constantly available to optimise people’s welfare. A staff member told us, “Staffing levels are good, I feel we have enough staff to get everything done and we can really take our time to speak with the residents as we support them.” People and relatives we spoke with said they felt safe at The Hamptons because high staffing numbers meant they received care and treatment quickly. One person said, “Yes, I feel there are a lot of staff around and managers.”

We found The Hamptons medication system had data errors in stock checks. The system was confusing and did not always retain robust oversight. The registered manager was working closely with the local authority and Clinical Commissioning Groups to resolve ordering issues outside of their control. Although staff had a good understa