The Towans 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 service 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 80 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The service always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. People told us they liked the staff. One person told us, “The staff are very nice and pleasant.” Other comments from people included, “They are very kind, they will do anything for you.”
Staff understood the importance of treating people with dignity and respect and they described how they did this. One member of staff told us, “We do it every day, we knock on doors, close curtains, shut doors and I always gain consent before I do anything. We hold discussions in private. I treat the residents how I would like to be treated, how I would like my mum and dad to be treated.”
We observed staff to be kind and caring and they treated people with empathy and compassion.
 

The provider treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.
Throughout our visit we observed people being treated as individuals. People told us they were able to make choices about their day to day lives. Care plans had been personalised to ensure staff had the information they needed to provide individualised care and support.
 

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.
Care plans identified what people could do for themselves and the support they needed from staff. Staff understood the importance of promoting people’s independence. One staff member told us, “We encourage people to do what they can for themselves. [Name of person] wanted to be more independent making drinks so we did a risk assessment and had a kettle in the dining room so they could make drinks for themselves. [Name of person] goes to church on their own and visits their family.”
 

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 knew people well and told us what could make people anxious. They gave examples of how they supported people in ways that would deescalate any anxiety and distress. People’s care plans included information relating to what could cause them to become anxious and upset. Staff responded promptly to people’s requests for support.
 

The service always cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and was exceptional at supporting and enabling staff to always deliver person-centred care.
There were a range of systems and processes in place to support workforce wellbeing and enablement. The provider gave examples of how they supported staff through serious illness, bereavement, family crises, financial pressures and changing personal circumstances.
The provider told us how they had, “Deliberately strengthened staff recognition so that appreciation is visible, inclusive and linked to the values we expect in day-to-day care.” The provider had introduced an internal recognition award system called ‘Heart of Our Home’. This was a system to recognise staff who went above and beyond the basic expectations of their role. The provider also focused on staff receiving immediate recognition following any challenging shifts. Staff received tokens of appreciation including chocolates, a bottle of wine or a small item selected because it was something the staff member particularly liked.
Staff felt well supported by management. One staff member told us, “If you have anything worrying you know you can go to them, they are very good on supporting our mental health.” Other comments from staff included, “[Name of provider] has been very welcoming, they sent me an email in the first week saying how well I was doing. I definitely feel valued” and “[Name of registered manager] is brilliant, any issues or problems in work or personal they are always there.”