Folkestone Nursing 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 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.

We observed staff interacting with people in a kind and caring manner. Staff were friendly and patient in their interactions with people. Staff understood the importance of promoting people’s dignity and privacy. They explained how they did this, for example, when providing support with personal care. A member of staff said, “Before we go in, we knock on the door. We close the curtains and doors to make a private space for them when giving personal care.” We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. Through the use of SOFI, we saw how staff interacted with people. Staff were enthusiastic and were able to motivate people to get involved with activities going on within the home. People told us staff were caring. A person said, “I like it here, yes staff are very kind to me.”

The provider treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. People’s wishes were recorded clearly within their care plans detailing the things that were important to them. Some care plans contained information about people, the lives they had led in the years prior to living in the service. Whilst some were rich with detail others needed more development. The registered manager told us they would address this. People told us they were treated well. A relative said “Staff treat [person] with dignity and respect, and I feel there is always enough staff around.”

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 be as independent as possible. Care plans set out what people could do for themselves and what they needed support with, for example, in relation to personal care. Staff told us how they promoted people’s independence. A member of staff said, “We ask if they want a bath or a shower. Most of them we try to support them to choose their clothes.” Another member of staff said, “We ask for permission with personal care. If they are resistant [to receiving support with personal care], we go back later and ask them again.” People were provided with a choice at mealtimes and told us they liked the food. A relative said, “[Person] enjoys the food here, and it looks good when served.” A person told us how they were able to maintain their independence. They said, “I look after myself here, but staff will always help me if I need them to, but most things I can manage.”
 

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.

Staff understood people’s needs and how to meet them. We observed staff reacted in a prompt manner when people required support. This included responding when call bells were used by people. People told us their needs were met. A relative said, “The staff are very friendly and very attentive to [person].”

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care.

Staff told us it was a good place to work and they felt supported. A member of staff said, “[Registered manager] is a good manager. They are helpful and very approachable. Any time their door is open. They tell us things politely, they are not shouting.” Another member of staff said, “I really like the manager, they are supportive. They always ask about my wellbeing and are open to listening to my professional and personal problems that affect my work. They have been so supportive.”

Staff were supported to develop in their role through regular training, for example on dementia care. Staff also had regular supervision meetings with a senior member of staff where they could discuss issues of importance and relevance to them.