Elmwood Residential Home Limited

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

Responsive – this means we looked for evidence that the provider met people’s needs.

At our last assessment we rated this key question Requires Improvement. At this assessment the rating has changed to Good. This meant people’s needs were met through good organisation and delivery.

The service was previously in breach of legal regulation in relation to person centred care. The provider had ensured the service was now being delivered responsively and this regulation was complied with.

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 made sure people were at the centre of their care and treatment choices and they decided, in partnership with people, how to respond to any relevant changes in people’s needs.

Care plans were person centred and detailed, covering all aspects of people’s support needs and how they would like their care provided. For example, the care plan of a person new to the service directed staff to, “provide calm reassurance and consistent routines to reduce anxiety linked to both their dementia and not living in their own home.” Staff were also directed to involve the persons family in the care planning and settling in process to ensure continuity of preferences.

It was evident staff knew people well, including their histories, strengths, interests and what mattered most to them. This was reinforced by feedback from an external professional working with people staying at Elmwood for a period of rehabilitation. They told us, “Within days, [registered manager] and [Family and resident liaison manager] were familiar with the residents’ needs and knew the concerns that their families had.We were able to work together to support the residents to return home and allay any concerns that their families had. It was clear that they cared a lot about the residents and the residents’ families trusted them which helped the process run smoothly.

The provider had acted on feedback from people living at the service. They had created a small shop on site where people enjoyed shopping for toiletries, personal care items and treats. A ‘Knit and Natter’ group had been introduced led by a person living at the service. This provided an opportunity for people to socialise over a shared love of knitting.

We did not look at Care provision, Integration and continuity during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

The provider supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs.

The registered manager understood their responsibilities under the Accessible Information Standard (AIS). We observed staff had good knowledge of people’s individual communication needs and communicated effectively with them. Care plans facilitated this with clear guidance about any support people required to engage with the world around them. For example, “[Person’s name] is hard of hearing which requires all staff to adapt communication (use of hearing aids, clear speech, eye contact)”

The registered manager described how they ensured the support provided remained relevant and effective as people’s needs changed. This might be due to deteriorating health or increasing sensory loss. Tools were used such as flash cards or a laptop. A relative told us, “They are receptive to [family members] welfare and have developed a communications dialogue that appears to be based upon a sequence of ‘Thumbs Up or Down’ choices.” Another relative confirmed, “[Family member] is nonverbal and has been for a few years yet the staff have coped admirably with understanding their needs.”

Documentation such as the ‘Service User Guide’ was available in different formats if required.

We did not look at Listening to and involving people during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Equity in access during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

Staff and leaders actively listened to information about people who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes and tailored their care, support and treatment in response to this.

At the previous assessment we found gaps in staff training which meant people who required additional support to communicate their needs or have their needs anticipated by staff did not always experience the best outcome. This was no longer the case.

The registered manager had introduced a range of training opportunities to help staff better understand the sensory and cognitive challenges faced by people living with dementia. This included experiential learning such as the ‘Dementia Bus’, an immersive sensory simulation to help people understand what living with dementia may be like. In addition, staff were due to complete ‘Dementia Interpreter’ training to help them understand and translate the non-verbal ‘language’ of dementia such as behaviour, sounds and body language.

Training in Positive Behavioural Support (PBS) and the development of an ‘Emotional Distress and Wellbeing’ care plan further enabled staff to understand, anticipate and respond sensitively to the needs of people who may have difficulty verbalising them. Together, these initiatives ensured staff were better equipped to deliver responsive, person‑centred care that improved people’s day‑to‑day experiences.

People were supported to plan for important life changes, so they could have enough time to make informed decisions about their future, including at the end of their life.

Following the previous assessment the registered manager had taken action to ensure everybody living at Elmwood had their wishes for the end of their lives documented in their care plan. This included wishes for funeral arrangements, their religious beliefs and physical and emotional support required, as well as medical treatment preferences. The registered manager had involved the community nursing team in this process to ensure consistency between the information held in medical records and at Elmwood.

A relative spoke highly of the quality of support given at the end of life. They said, “I would like to highlight the care that was given to my [family member] at the end of their life. [Registered manager] ensured that a member of staff was present both day and night which was a great comfort to us as a family. The staff really cared for [family member] and I know they were happy there.”