“Caring” and “compassionate” ... just two of the major qualities of a Bury St Edmunds care home which has been recognised as being “outstanding” following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission.

It found the quality of care provided at St Peter’s House, in Out Risbygate, for the 66 residents to also be safe, responsive, effective and well-led.

Jemima Burnage, CQC’s Head of Inspection for Adult Social Care in the central region, said: “Our inspection team was really impressed by the level of care and support offered to people at St Peter’s House.

“We found that people received excellent care that was personalised to them, taking account of their individual needs and wishes.

“The service provided exceptional, compassionate care to people. Staff treated people with kindness, dignity and respect, knew people well and interactions were relaxed. People who used the service, and their relatives, spoke with great fondness and affection about staff. Staff were committed to the people who lived at the home, ensuring their needs were met in an extremely caring manner.

“We saw examples of staff going above and beyond to meet people’s needs.”

People’s preferences, likes and dislikes, their rights to privacy, dignity and independence were taken into consideration by staff in the way they cared for them.

“Ensuring people received care personalised to meet their needs and which enhanced their quality of life was fundamental to the running of the service. The service provided outstanding end of life care and effective systems and processes were in place to ensure people experienced a comfortable, dignified death in line with their wishes.”

The registered manager, Alastair Rayner, and his deputy manager, Donna Cook, said they were “delighted” that the hard work and dedication shown by their 85 staff had been recognised in such a positive way.

“We are extremely proud of our team and are very lucky to lead a group of dedicated staff who work tirelessly for the benefit of our resident guests. St Peter’s House has been a long established and well respected dementia care home.

“It has changed over the years from a 16 bed home to a 35 bed home and finally a 66 bed specialist dementia residential home.

“We pride ourselves in providing a warm, loving and caring environment for our guests and their families who are living with dementia,” they said in a joint statement.

A full inspection report has been published on CQC’s website: http://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-113533637