Earlfield Lodge

On this page

• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

Caring – this means we looked for evidence that the provider involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The provider always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. People told us staff were kind and caring. People said, “Staff are really lovely and wonderful, and “Staff are alright.” A relative said, “Staff are kind and attentive.”

Some people could not directly tell us about their experiences, which meant we spent time observing interactions with staff. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI), a structured observation tool to help us understand their experience and assess whether they received good care. We observed positive interactions between staff and people. Staff spoke to people with consideration and respect. A health professional said, “Staff are friendly and kind with people.”

The provider treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics. Care plans gave information about people’s interests, hobbies and social networks. For example, care plans described people’s family and friends, previous employment and activities people enjoyed. People’s cultural and religious needs were documented. However, further development of how to actively facilitate and meet these needs fully were required. This was part of the providers development plan. People told us staff knew them well. A person said, “They [staff] know me well, they are all great. [Name of staff] will fix things, [Name of staff] will sit down and chat with me.”

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and well-being. People’s independence was encouraged and supported. For example, around managing their medicines, cooking for themselves and accessing the community. Improvements made to the environment meant people could mobilise around the service safely and access outdoor space. A person said, “It is possible to go outside.” People had more options of different areas to spend their time in, within the service due to refurbishments. People could receive visitors when they wished. A person told us, “Visitors come in and out.”

The provider listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff responded to people’s needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. People were supported by consistent staff who knew them well. Staff were observed responding to people’s needs and wishes. Staff responded accordingly to a change in people’s mental or physical presentation. A relative said, “Staff are alert to changes.”

There was a range of activities available at the service which we received positive feedback about and the staff deliverance of these. For example, games, quizzes and music. We observed people participating in an exercise, co-ordination and movement session. People said, “I’ve done keep fit down there, I’ll do that again,” “There is entertainment if I want it,” and “I do quizzes, I have got my bit of the garden, I like doing jigsaws.” People told us they would like to see activities developing further at weekends and would like to access the local community more.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. Staff told of us in overall improvements at the service and how this had positively impacted working at the service. Staff were supported with their work/life balance. People were supported with training where needed. Staff told us they worked together as a team and were focused on providing positive care experiences for people. A staff member said, “Morale is different, staff are kept updated. There is a team approach to things.”