Archived: Harpwood Residential Home

During the inspection we observed how people spent their time during the day, how staff met their needs and how people interacted with staff. We spoke with five people who used the service, six relatives and five members of staff.

People told us they were treated with respect and dignity and that they were happy with the service. They told us that people received the care and support they needed and were able to make choices about their lives. A relative told us 'we think we have come up trumps here' and another relative told us 'I cannot fault the care here'.

There were enough staff on duty to give people the support they needed. We saw that people were comfortable with staff and interactions between staff and people were positive and respectful. Staff did not rush people when supporting or speaking with them and respected when people wished to exercise their independence. People and relatives were complimentary about staff, their comments included 'staff are always cheerful' and 'the staff are excellent'.

The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided. These included internal audits and systems for consulting people who used the service, and for consulting relatives. The provider listened to people's views and had made changes to the service in response when necessary.

There was a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere within the home and the staff we spoke to understood how to support people, assisted them to make choices and maintain as much independence as possible. A member of staff told us "staff work as a team." "People who used the service told us "we are well looked after," and "staff help me when I need it."

In order to protect the people who used the service, we saw that the home carried out a rigorous staff recruitment process. We saw that staff were knowledgeable about people's needs and preferences, were observed to treat people as individuals and delivered care in a personalised way.

There were processes in place to monitor the quality of service being provided and we saw that people were involved through questionnaires, reviews and one to one discussions.

Relatives we spoke to told us they were very happy with the standard of care. One person told us "all the staff are brilliant, cleaners to managers" and "I've never seen anyone here be unkind to anyone, when my relative was in hospital the care was poor, but this is excellent." Another told us "staff are so kind."