The inspection took place on 13 & 14 June 2017. The inspection visit was unannounced on 13 June 2017 and we agreed to return on 14 June 2017 so we could speak with the registered manager and to review their quality assurance systems.

The Woodlands is a residential home which provides care to older people including some people who are living with dementia. The Woodlands is registered to provide care for up to 19 people. At the time of our inspection there were 18 people living at the home.

The Woodlands was last inspected in April 2015 and was rated as ‘Good’.

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.

Staff received training that helped them to meet people’s individual needs, and they effectively used their skills, knowledge and experience to support people and develop caring and trusted relationships.

Staff supported and encouraged people to make individual choices in how they lived their lives. For people who lacked capacity to make certain decisions, staff prompted and offered people choices which were made in their best interests.

Relatives felt involved in care decisions and were complimentary about the support staff and the registered manager provided to their family members and in some cases, to them, especially when they needed support at difficult times. People were referred to other healthcare professionals when required to ensure their health and wellbeing was maintained.

People were involved in hobbies and leisure activities and activity co-ordinators arranged activities to help keep people motivated and stimulated.

People had meals and drinks that met their individual requirements and people said they enjoyed the choices of foods provided.

People told us they felt safe living at The Woodlands and staff knew how to safeguard people from the risk of abuse or poor practice. Staff knew what actions to take if they had any concerns for people's wellbeing. The registered manager knew what action to take if concerns regarding people’s safety were brought to their attention.

People’s medicines were administered by trained and competent staff. The staff team were becoming more confident in using a new electronic medicines system which helped them ensure people received their medicines safely and as prescribed.

The staff team had been at the home for some time and were complimentary of the home, the registered manager and the provider. All staff said they enjoyed working there and worked well as a team.

The provider had quality monitoring processes which included audits and checks on care records, infection control, fire safety and accidents and incidents. We found improvements were needed because these systems did not always identify and demonstrate what improvements and actions had been taken. When checks were delegated to others, there was no follow up to ensure they were completed to the provider’s expectations and standards.

We inspected The Woodlands and spoke with three people who lived at the home and three relatives of people who lived at the home. We spoke with the registered provider, a manager and three staff.

We looked at the care records for two people who lived at the home. People that we spoke with were very satisfied with the care they had received. One person said: “There is no place like your own home but I am happy here as I could be”.

We found consent had been obtained from people before care and treatment had been provided. Staff we spoke with told us they respected people’s individual choices and decisions.

We found people received care and support as planned according to their needs. Staff understood people’s individual needs and how to give the support that they required.

People were cared for in a safe and clean environment and were able to access all parts of the home and garden.

We found that the provider had an effective system in place that monitored the quality of service that people received.

People received information on how to make a complaint if they were not happy with the service. We found that the provider had received complaints and had dealt with them to people’s satisfaction.

In this report the name of a registered manager appears who was not in post and not managing the regulatory activities at this location at the time of the inspection. Their name appears because they were still a Registered Manager on our register at the time.

We carried out an inspection at The Woodlands. The visit was unannounced so that no one living or working in the home knew we were coming.

Some of the people who lived at The Woodlands were unable to express their views verbally, so we spent time observing how staff supported them. We were however able to speak with four people who used the service, four relatives, one visiting professional, two members of care staff and the manager.

People who used the service and their representative told us they had been involved in their care planning or that of their relative. We saw consent to care and treatment information had been included in people’s electronic care plans. We spoke with two relatives to confirm the consent to care and treatment had been explained to them.

We saw people’s electronic care files contained up to date information and these had been regularly reviewed.

People and their relative told us they felt safe at The Woodlands. They said the “Staff are very good and kind.”

We looked at training records and we found care staff had received up to date training in key elements such as safeguarding vulnerable people. We found that staff had been given the opportunity to meet with their manager on a regular basis.

Systems were in place to monitor the quality of care and people who used the service told us they were given the opportunity to be involved in the running of the care home.

We arrived at The Woodlands at 11.45am. The home were not aware that we were going to visit. We spoke with three people that live at The Woodlands, two members of staff, the manager and a district nurse. We spent some time observing the interaction between staff and people living at the home. Staff appeared to have a good relationship with those under their care. The atmosphere was relaxed and friendly and people appeared to be comfortable in their surroundings.

Everyone spoke positively about their experiences at The Woodlands. People commented, "they keep the place clean, they wash your clothes. Everyone is nice and friendly." "I have no worries at all." "Everything is good." "I get up in the morning at about 9.30am and got to bed at about 10pm or just before. It is your choice. There is always a choice."

The home was warm and clean on the day of our visit and no odours were noted.

The home has a cat which was the topic of conversation as it wandered around the lounge, occasionally sitting on people's laps.

We were told that the home has won a national care award regarding activities. Pictures on the walls show that varied activities take place. During the morning of our visit people were listening to music, chatting or reading a magazine. Some people who prefer to stay in their bedroom told us that staff call in and have a chat with them to make sure that they are alright.

This inspection took place on 31 March and 1 April 2015 and was unannounced.

The Woodlands is a two storey residential home which provides care to older people including people who are living with dementia. The Woodlands is registered to provide care for 19 people. At the time of our inspection there were 16 people living at The Woodlands.

There was a registered manager in post. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

All the people we spoke with told us they felt well cared for and safe living at The Woodlands. People told us staff were respectful and kind towards them and staff were caring to people throughout our visit. Staff protected people’s privacy and dignity when they provided care and asked people for their consent before any care was given. Staff protected people’s confidential information from others.

Care plans contained accurate and relevant information for staff to help them provide the individual care and treatment people required. We saw examples of care records that reflected people’s wishes and how they wanted their care delivered. People received support from staff who had the knowledge and expertise to care for people.

People told us they received their medicines when required. Staff were trained to administer medicines and had been assessed as competent which meant people received their medicines from suitably trained, qualified and experienced staff.

Systems and processes were in place to recruit staff who were suitable to work in the service and to protect people against risks of abuse.

Staff understood they needed to respect people’s choices and decisions. Assessments had been made and reviewed to determine people’s individual capacity to make certain decisions. Where people did not have capacity, decisions had been taken in ‘their best interest’ with the involvement of family members and appropriate health care professionals.

The provider was meeting their requirements set out in the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). The registered manager had contacted the local authority to make sure people’s freedoms and liberties were not restricted unnecessarily. At the time of this inspection, no applications had been authorised under DoLS.

There was a comprehensive audit system completed by the registered manager and senior staff to identify and improve the quality of service people received. These checks and audits helped ensure actions had been taken that led to improvements. People told us they were pleased with the service they received. If anyone had concerns, these were listened to and supported by managers or staff and responded to in a timely way.