Cheriton Care Home

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 requires improvement. At this assessment the rating has changed to good.

This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

This service scored 70 (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 treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion.

We observed staff to be kind, caring and they encouraged people to enjoy activities in the service. Staff were discreet in offering support with eating and personal care. However, staff consistently referred to people using terms of endearment such as ‘darling and sweetheart.’ This was fed back to the provider to address.

People stated that they had “respect and appreciation of [staff members name]” and people’s families told us that overall, the staff all seemed very nice.

Staff observations and spot checks were carried out by management and dignity was discussed in staff meetings and supervisions. We observed staff listened and responded to people in pain and discomfort with kindness.

A Professional commented, “I feel a valued member of the team when I visit the service.”

Daily records showed that people were left for long periods of time without receiving personal care leading to distress. This meant that people were at risk of not being treated with dignity.

The provider did not always treat people as individuals or make sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. They did not always take account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

Care plans documented religious dietary requirements and held useful information for staff to assist them. However, we found evidence that dietary requirements had not been met and on two occasions, a person had been offered and eaten food that did not align with the persons religious dietary requirements. This meant person centred care was not provided.

During the inspection we observed staff did not knock on people’s bedroom doors prior to going into their bedrooms. This practice did not promote people’s privacy.

People’s religion was taken into account when planning their care, by assigning keyworkers to people with the same religion. Relatives had positive feedback about a recent visit from the local church.

People’s communication needs were identified and met to enable them to engage in their care, treatment and support to maximise their experience and outcomes.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

People were supported to make choices in relation to food and drinks. Throughout the inspection we observed the cook interacted with several people in an informal and natural way and asked them for their meal choices for that day. A relative commented, “I am pleased with the level of care [family members name] receives and they are still encouraged to be as independent as they can be.”

The service had appointed an activities co ordinator who facilitated a programme of in-house activities to people. These included arts and crafts, bingo, cooking, cake decorating, pampering sessions and seasonal events such as a summer BBQ and a Halloween party where staff dressed up. Photos of events were displayed and showed people’s enjoyment and participation in those. Alongside, those external entertainers and an animal therapy session visited the service. A relative commented, “The activities there have really improved and the [activity co ordinators name] is very good. Just this week they had people in from the Church, and they did a sort of Nativity play with puppets, they did something different for Remembrance Day Halloween too. They are really making an effort, and it is noticeable what a difference it makes.”

Some people and relatives told us there was no community activities. The registered manager confirmed they were keen for community activities to commence. However, staff were concerned about how that would be managed by one staff member and had reservations about them being able to provide responsive support for people's needs whilst in the community. The resident meeting minutes showed discussions on forthcoming events and asking people for their ideas for activities.

There were no restrictions on visiting to the service, with family members and friends’ involvement in people’s care encouraged.

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 had call bells in their bedrooms and sensor mats were provided for people who required them. During the inspection we noted very few call bells in use.

During the inspection staff were observed to be responsive and attentive to people and redirected them to communal areas of the service when required.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and whilst staff were supported to deliver person-centred care, we found this was not always promoted.

Systems were in place such as team meetings and supervisions to enable staff to provide feedback on barriers that impacted their well-being and prevented them from consistently delivering person- centred care. Whilst staff felt supported, they also expressed they experienced pressures on shift due to the number of people requiring 2 staff for their care, which impacted their well-being. We observed the cook had no support in the kitchen and they appeared to be working under pressure. The provider assured us other staff help such as the cleaner and the registered manager informed us that they were looking to appoint a kitchen assistant to enable the cook to focus on cooking.