Arden House 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 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.

The providers organisational values promoted kind and compassionate care. The management and staff team promoted people’s dignity in all aspects of their care and support. We saw staff interactions with people were kind and respectful. One person said, “Staff are polite kind and helpful.”

People’s rights to privacy and confidentiality were upheld. Staff demonstrated clear understanding of why this was important and how they achieved it. People’s information and care records were stored securely both in a password protected computer and in locked cupboards.

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.

People told us, “They treat me well here – they support but don’t force things.” Another person said, “I am sober, this place has helped me. Not by stopping me doing things, but encouraging me to be independent, to not rely on drinking.”

Staff told us that whilst people shared addiction, they were all very different, one staff member said, “No two people are the same, everyone has their distinctive behaviour. We respect their choices, even the bad ones and get advice from health professionals.” One staff member told us of a person that they discovered used to make wedding cakes, and how they arranged some baking sessions where the person could get involved. Staff said people had attended various functions within the home including Karaoke nights, which people enjoyed.

Care plans were specific to each person and there were policies that put people at the centre of their care and treated them as individuals.

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 exercise choice and control in both their daily routines and longer-term goals. Staff were knowledgeable about people’s needs and wishes and supported people to express their views and make choices. People were encouraged to be independent and supported to build on their skills. One person was attending college and told us that they had just applied for another course, “It gives me mental strength, and I really enjoy it.” Staff supported people to attend appointments, to the bank and any appointment that they needed to attend. One person said, “If I go to the doctor they come with me, because my memory is not very good and I get anxious.”

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 said, “We have enough staff- so we can anticipate behaviours and prevent incidents by knowing our residents. Most people have tell-tale signs of when they are getting upset so we go to them immediately.” Staff knew people well and this allowed them to respond quickly to signs of distress or when they needed medical help. Call bells were answered immediately.

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

Staff felt well supported by the registered manager and by the organisation. One staff told us, “The manager ensures we can give feedback by regular staff meetings, and team meetings. Supervisions have been a bit hit and miss. We do have a staff room, and we get regular breaks.” Staff said new staff are given an induction which included shadow shifts and that training is effective with a mixture of online courses and face to face training for practical sessions. The deputy manager told us how they operated an open-door policy for all. Staff told us they felt the management team were approachable.

The provider told us that they routinely used feedback from individual supervision and group team meetings to support staff through any areas of concern and identify any training needs. Employee satisfaction surveys were sent out to all staff on a regular basis and we were told the provider would collate all surveys and take action if required. However this was not always documented.