Bentley Court 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 good. At this assessment the rating has changed to requires improvement. This meant people did not always feel well-supported, cared for or treated with dignity and respect.

This service scored 60 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People were treated with kindness, empathy and compassion and staff respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. People told us they were happy living at the service. One person told us, “It’s very nice here and I would recommend it. It’s my home now. All my friends are here. The garden is beautiful, and I can look out and see the seasons change. I went to the park the other day and had a picnic. I have no worries or complaints.” Another person told us, “The staff are kind and caring, as soon as I come out of the shower, there’s a hot drink waiting for me.” Relatives told us they felt people were cared for and staff were kind and helped people to be happy at the home. One relative told us, “[Person’s name] seems to be very happy here. The staff are very kind, and they always remember me when I come in once a week. They are very caring and attentive. They are very responsive and look out for [person’s name].” We saw staff were caring in their approach to people and people responded warmly to conversations with staff. Leaders told us they observed staff interactions as part of their daily walk around and felt staff were kind and respectful towards people.

The provider did not always ensure people were treated as individuals and the care, support and treatment they received met their individual needs and preferences. We saw people did not have preferences for the time they liked to get out of bed included in their care plans. We found some people had not been supported to get out of bed and could not determine if this was their preference. Records showed some people had not had their personal care needs met until late morning and there was no reference to whether this was their preference in the care plan and no reference to what time people preferred to get up in the morning. Staff confirmed people had not chosen to stay in bed late, they had not had time to go and see if they wished to get up. Leaders told us they checked to ensure people had received personal care, but this did not include any checks on what time this was given to people or if it was in line with what they preferred.

People did not always have choice and control over their care delivery. Observations showed staff were not consistently offering people choices. We saw at lunchtime some people were not given a choice of meals. We saw staff present meals to people and leave them in the dining area without discussion about the meal or if it was what people wanted to eat. We found some aspects of peoples care plans did not indicate people’s choices and preferences. Leaders said they would address this with staff. However, at other times during the assessment site visit we saw staff offering choices to people about where to sit, what drinks they would like, what they wanted to eat and where they spent their time during the day.

The provider did not always ensure peoples immediate needs were responded to. Staff were not able to respond promptly to people who needed help. We saw people were waiting for help from staff and were left without help for some time. For example, 1 person was observed sat on the side of their bed and had set off their sensor mat. Staff came to the person, turned off the alarm and left the person to wait. This happened several times during the morning and the person repeatedly set off the alarm. This meant the person was left without their needs being met. Once the person was supported to get up later during the morning they appeared to settle. However, staff could tell us how they supported people who sometimes became distressed, they were able to share how they supported people who were distressed to calm down and feel relaxed. Care plans also detailed guidance for staff on how to support people in these circumstances.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. Staff described feeling supported by the management team at the home, one staff member said, “The manager is very supportive and approachable.” Another staff member commented they had been supported to get to know their role and the people they supported by the manager and staff. Leaders told us they offered staff support through a range of opportunities to speak with the manager and they told us about a process in place which engaged staff in a hunt for a chocolate bar during their shift which they felt had helped to improve staff morale.