Applecroft Residential 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 remained 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 always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

People were positive about the way staff treated them. We observed staff who were kind and caring in their approach. There was a friendly atmosphere at the service, where people appeared comfortable and at home. A person said, “I have a laugh and a joke with the staff, I can’t fault any of them.”

Where people preferred to spend time in their bedrooms, staff respected their wishes and privacy. The registered manager undertook observations of staff practice to ensure people were treated with dignity and respect.

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.

Staff appeared to know and understand people’s needs well. People’s care plans included information about their strengths and preferences. They also included information about any religious or cultural needs.

However, care plans didn’t always contain sufficient detail to help guide staff when providing meaningful activities, such as in relation to their interest, hobbies or activities they enjoyed.

People were supported to maintain their relationships with family and friends. Visitors to the home were made to feel welcome and were able to visit as they wished.

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

Feedback indicated staff offered people choices about their care and support. One person said, “You can say you’re not ready yet and they will come back” and “I can go out for a fag when I want, they take me in a wheelchair.” A staff member told us, “We give them the choice, it’s their home.” Staff supported people to maintain their independence where possible. In one case they were encouraging a person with their independence where they were aiming to return to their own home.

Due to staff absence, there was no current activity co-ordinator. Staff supported people where possible and a domestic staff member organised bingo. We saw some people occupied with puzzles, however there was no activity programme, or regular planned outings to the community. Whilst some people reported feeling contented, and 2 people had recently been to visit family members; others were often unoccupied. Some people told us, “There’s not much going on, I think they are short staffed” and “It’s pretty boring here.”

The registered manager told us social activities were on offer and that they discussed these with people in the residents’ meetings, but they found people did not always wish to engage. However, they planned to focus further on meaningful activities and strengthening links with the local community.

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.

Overall, people told us staff responded to their needs, for example when they pressed their calls bells for assistance. Staff gave an example where they supported a person who wasn’t sleeping well at night, to come down for a sandwich and cup of tea.

Staff demonstrated a good understanding of people’s needs, we observed them responding promptly to people who needed support or reassurance. We observed one person frequently asking for a cup of tea and staff always responded. Professional’s feedback indicated the approach of the staff had achieved some good outcomes for people, particularly where they had mental health needs.

However, some staff feedback indicated they didn’t always have the time they would like to spend with people, especially when they were required to cover other duties such as assisting in the kitchen.

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

Overall, staff felt supported by the management team and were able to discuss any concerns or issues. Some staff felt staffing arrangements and lack of permanent staff impacted on them at times. Staff meetings and supervisions were held to enable staff to discuss any issues or the running of the service.