The inspection took place on 7 and 8 June 2016. The visit was unannounced. Ryedale House is a residential home which provides care to people with mental health needs. It is registered to provide care for up to seven people. At the time of our inspection there were seven people living in the home.
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. The registered manager responsible for nursing was managing the service at the time of the inspection.
People using the service we spoke with said they thought the home was safe. Staff had been trained in safeguarding (protecting people from abuse) and understood their responsibilities in this area.
People's risk assessments provided staff with information of how to support people safely.
People using the service told us they thought medicines were given safely and usually on time.
Staff were not always subject to checks to ensure they were appropriate to work with the people who used the service. The registered manager was following up a reference to obtain more detail to be able to properly assess risk to people living in the service.
Staff had been trained to ensure they had the skills and knowledge to meet people's needs though more training was needed so staff were in a position to meet people's needs.
Staff were not always aware of their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) so that people had an effective choice about how they lived their lives. The service had not always obtained legal approval for limiting people's choices when necessary for their best interests. There was no system in place to assess people's capacity to make their own decisions which meant people's choices to follow their own lifestyles could be limited.
People had plenty to eat and drink, everyone told us they liked the food served and people were assisted to eat when they needed help.
People's health care needs had been protected by referral to health care professionals when necessary.
People we spoke with told us they liked the staff and got on well with them, and told us of many times where staff supported them in a friendly and caring way.
People and their representatives were involved in making decisions about their care, treatment and support.
Care plans were individual to the people using the service and covered their health and social care needs.
There were sufficient numbers of staff to ensure that people's needs were responded to in good time.
Activities were available to provide stimulation for people though this provision needed to be reviewed to offer more community activities for people.
People told us they would tell staff if they had any concerns and were confident they would be followed up to meet people's needs.
People, staff and professionals were satisfied with how the home was run by the registered manager.
Statutory notifications of incidents had not been submitted to allow us to assess risk to the welfare of people living in the service
Management had carried out audits and checks to ensure the home was running properly to meet people's needs, though not all essential systems and been audited to provide assurance that people's needs had always been met.