Archived: St Leonards Rest 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 requires improvement. At this assessment the rating has changed to 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 service always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. During our observations we observed staff responding to people with compassion. One staff member told us they would go out of their way to make people happy with food, for example, they had a person who at times could get homesick. The staff member made some fresh cakes, which were popular where this person came from, and enjoyed seeing the person’s face light up. A healthcare professional told us, “Staff appear to engage with and know their residents very well.” People consistently told us the staff were very caring.

The service 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 and most relatives told us they were involved in care planning. A healthcare professional told us, “Residents are encouraged to follow hobbies, 1 person has taken up clarinet playing again.”

The service promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. One person told us the best thing about living in the home was the freedom it gave him. He told us, “I choose when to go to bed, when to get up and I go out on my own.” We observed the mealtime experience for people. People were given a choice of food, drinks and condiments and were supported to maintain their independence wherever possible. Staff knew people well and communicated with them using their preferred method of communication.

The service 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. We observed staff supporting people in a timely manner and spending time to ensure they understood what it was people wanted. For example, when 1 person became unsettled and kept getting up from their meal, the staff member managed this effectively by pacing the person’s activities, so they were able to enjoy their full meal and coffee. One relative told us, “When [person’s name] first moved in they were anxious and worried about finances and they called me so that I could come on in and have a chat about it and reassure my relative everything was ok, the provider acted quickly to stop them worrying.”

The service cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. All staff we spoke with consistently told us they felt supported and valued by the manager. A staff member told us, “I feel valued, and I feel appreciated, the manager is brilliant, she is always there when you need her.” Team meetings took place 6 monthly, staff told us they had general meetings in between and informal meetings as well as discussing things on a daily basis and sharing any changes with other staff.