The Hermitage is a care home providing accommodation for up to 24 older people. The service is in a residential area close to the centre of Whittlesey. It is not registered to provide nursing care. 21 people were living at the service on the day of our inspection.

This inspection was undertaken by one inspector. At the last inspection on 18 February 2015 the service was rated as ‘Good’. At this inspection we found the service remained ‘Good’.

A registered manager was in post at the time of the inspection. 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.

Systems were in place to manage risks to people using the service and to keep them safe. This included assisting people safely with their mobility and with their medicines.

There was sufficient numbers of staff on duty to safely assist and support people. The recruitment and selection procedure ensured that only suitable staff were recruited to work with people using the service.

The registered manager and staff understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). People were supported to have choice and control over their lives as much as possible. Staff supported people in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People’s needs were assessed, so that their care was planned and delivered in a consistent way. The management staff and care staff were knowledgeable about the people they supported and knew their care needs well. Staff offered people choices such as how they spent their day and the meals they wished to eat. These choices were respected and actioned by staff.

People experienced a good quality of life because staff received training that gave them the right skills and knowledge to meet their needs. People were supported and assisted with their daily routines, shopping and accessing places of their choice in the community.

People received appropriate support to maintain a healthy diet and be able to choose and help prepare meals they preferred. People had access to a range of health care professionals, when they needed them.

Staff were clear about the values of the service in relation to providing people with compassionate care in a dignified and respectful manner. Staff knew what was expected of them and we observed staff supporting people in a respectful and dignified manner during our inspection.

The provider had processes in place to assess, monitor and improve the service. People had been consulted about how they wished their care to be delivered and their choices had been respected. People, their relatives and staff were provided with the opportunity to give their feedback about the quality of the service provided.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

We completed this follow up inspection to check that the provider had acted on improvements that we said needed to be made at our inspection of 10 May 2013. We found that improvements needed to be made to the way that the electrical wiring installation was being checked, to the recruitment and selection procedure and to the fire safety system. After this inspection the provider wrote to us and said that it had completed all of the necessary improvements.

At our inspection of 15 August 2013, people who used the service said that they were receiving all of the care they needed. They told us that the service provided a comfortable and safe setting in which to live. They also said that staff were kind, caring and trustworthy. One of them said, "The staff really are lovely and caring. They're always willing to help us all and I'm quite settled living here."

Also at this inspection we found that the electrical wiring installation had been certified as being safe to use, the recruitment and selection procedure was robust and there was a suitable level of fire safety protection.

All of the six people with whom we spoke gave us positive feedback about the service. One of them said, “The staff are always kind to me and they make me feel at home. I’m very pleased that I chose to live here because it’s so homely.”

We saw that people’s privacy, dignity and independence were respected.

People said that they received all of the health and personal care they needed. Records confirmed that assistance had been provided in a safe, reliable and responsive way.

We found that the provider had measures in place to help safeguard people from abuse.

We found that the provider had not taken all of the steps necessary to provide care in an environment that was suitably designed and adequately maintained. This reduced the confidence people could have that their accommodation provided a safe setting in which to live.

Records showed that most parts of the recruitment and selection procedure were robust. However, a limited number of security checks on staff had not been completed. This reduced the provider's ability to fully reassure people that only suitable and trustworthy staff would be employed in the service.

We found that the provider did not have an effective system to fully assess and monitor all of the main parts of the service people received. This meant that people could not be fully assured that they would be fully protected from avoidable risks to their health and safety.

The Hermitage is a care home providing accommodation for up to 24 older people. The service is in a residential area close to the centre of Whittlesey. It is not registered to provide nursing care. 21 people were living at the service on the day of our inspection.

This inspection was undertaken by one inspector. At the last inspection on 18 February 2015 the service was rated as ‘Good’. At this inspection we found the service remained ‘Good’.

A registered manager was in post at the time of the inspection. 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.

Systems were in place to manage risks to people using the service and to keep them safe. This included assisting people safely with their mobility and with their medicines.

There was sufficient numbers of staff on duty to safely assist and support people. The recruitment and selection procedure ensured that only suitable staff were recruited to work with people using the service.

The registered manager and staff understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). People were supported to have choice and control over their lives as much as possible. Staff supported people in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People’s needs were assessed, so that their care was planned and delivered in a consistent way. The management staff and care staff were knowledgeable about the people they supported and knew their care needs well. Staff offered people choices such as how they spent their day and the meals they wished to eat. These choices were respected and actioned by staff.

People experienced a good quality of life because staff received training that gave them the right skills and knowledge to meet their needs. People were supported and assisted with their daily routines, shopping and accessing places of their choice in the community.

People received appropriate support to maintain a healthy diet and be able to choose and help prepare meals they preferred. People had access to a range of health care professionals, when they needed them.

Staff were clear about the values of the service in relation to providing people with compassionate care in a dignified and respectful manner. Staff knew what was expected of them and we observed staff supporting people in a respectful and dignified manner during our inspection.

The provider had processes in place to assess, monitor and improve the service. People had been consulted about how they wished their care to be delivered and their choices had been respected. People, their relatives and staff were provided with the opportunity to give their feedback about the quality of the service provided.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.