Penbownder House

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.

Staff provided support with kindness and compassion and people were supported to maintain their independence.

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 relaxed and comfortable throughout the service and people consistently reported their staff were kind and caring. Their comments included, “It is a very nice house. If we want help, we ask staff and they help us” and “They do look after you”. In the mental health unit we observed people seeking out staff for reassurance, holding hands and laughing and joking together.

Relatives were made to feel welcome and told us, “It’s lovely here. Homely, nice, I am always made to feel welcome, nothing’s too much trouble” and “the staff are wonderful. Kind and understanding and they seem happy to be there doing what they are doing”. Health professionals were also complimentary of the staff team and said, “for the caring I would give them high”.

The established staff team ensured people’s privacy was always respected. One staff member commented, “The clients love me being here with them and I need them as much as they need me. We have a lot of staff that have been here for a long time, this is just a lovely place.”

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.

Our observations of how people’s individual needs and preferences were recognised and catered for varied across the service. People in the mental health unit and on the ground floor of the older people’s service were able to engage in meaningful engagement which reflected their interests. However, people in a shared lounge and dining area on the first floor of the older people’s service did not have the same opportunities. See the responsive section of this report for more detail.

People’s care plans included information for staff on people’s individual likes and preferences. This included information on how to offer support and how to respond when needed support was declined. We saw staff varying their communication style in response to people’s need and staff took pleasure in describing people’s abilities.

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 detailed which tasks people were able to complete independently and provided guidance on how to encourage and support people to do things for themselves.

Staff spoke of the importance of respecting people’s choices and supporting people to retain their independence. They told us, “I will ask people and give them options if they don’t have a lot of capacity…… with some people it is important to give them visual options and give them the time to decide”, “We always have to assume [People] can make their own decisions so we would always ask anyone and then always give them the chance to do it for themselves” and “If people are a bit more independent, I will go to do personal care and I will always encourage them to do what they can themselves but will say I will be here if you need any help.”

Relatives confirmed people were supported and encouraged to do things for themselves. One relative said, “When [my relative] is in [their] room and wants the toilet [the staff] help but they encourage [my relative] to walk towards them as therapy”.

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 were confident approaching staff and managers, who responded promptly and positively to people’s requests. Staff told us, “I love it here. The clients do as much for me as I do for them.”

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

Staff were constantly complimentary of the support the received from the registered manager and the provider’s directors. Staff felt confident requesting changes to their working conditions and told us the support from managers to enable them to return to work following significant health events had been, “brilliant”.