New Milton 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.

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.

We received positive feedback from healthcare professionals about staff treating people kindly and in a caring manner. They also told us they felt welcomed and supported at the service.

We saw staff chatting with people and their relatives and positive and caring interactions during mealtimes and throughout the day. Staff clearly knew people well and made sure they felt cared for and relaxed. Feedback from relatives about care staff included, “The carers are very good, and they address me by name. They ask after [person]. [Staff name] on reception is really lovely.” And “Most of the established staff are lovely and they have a good relationship with [person]. They will speak openly to me.” And “When they answer the phone, they recognise my voice. When I’m at the home, carers will talk to me, and they are respectful to the residents.”

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.

Care plans were person-centred and contained information specific to individuals. Staff told us care plans needed additional information about people’s relatives and life history before they were admitted to New Milton House as this would aid them in conversation and in providing comfort should the person become distressed.

Relatives had felt involved in developing care plans however several told us that since they initially contributed to care plans they had not been asked about them again. A relative told us, “I did a care plan 5 years ago but can’t say I’ve been involved in one since.” A second relative thought it had been more than a year since they discussed a care plan.

Care records however showed plans were regularly updated and reviewed. Relatives mostly agreed staff knew their family members well and provided care as they wanted to receive it.

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

The provider ran a selection of activities including exercise sessions each week. The provider also arranged themed events such as a 1950’s and a 1960’s barbeque. These events included activities, games, singers and, at one event, a car club. Thes events were open to relatives as well as people and staff and were well attended and enjoyed by all.

The provider ensured activities were to people’s choice. They issued a questionnaire about activities in July 2025 which showed people were mostly happy with activities but identified a few areas that needed to be improved. The provider had worked to make these improvements and received regular feedback at resident and relative meetings.

The provider had also introduced smart technology and used a smart speaker that enabled people to request music and information.

Not all feedback about activities was positive. Some relatives were concerned there were no activities designed for people living with dementia, others said there was not always anything going on and people were watching TV.

Activities were designed to be inclusive and person-centred and reflected the choices of people using the service. Some people using the service preferred to watch television rather than participate in group activities. While there were people experiencing mild, age related cognitive impairment at New Milton House, the service was not a dementia specialist, therefore activities were appropriately provided to appeal to a broad range of people.

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 responded to call bells and to colleagues requesting assistance as soon as they could. There were no long delays in care provision when we were inspecting. Relatives told us if they ever needed staff, they had been able to find them and there were usually staff available to help.

Staff also supported people with needs such as repositioning to minimise risks of harm to skin. Though care staff felt, with the host role being made redundant, their duties had significantly increased, they were able to maintain tasks such as repositioning, personal care and ensuring people had sufficient to drink.

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

The provider had a supervision and appraisal procedure and staff participated in a range of different support sessions each year. Supervision could be a face to face 1-to-1 meeting, a team meeting or they could be observed by senior staff. Sessions were both informative and supportive and staff could add to the agenda of their meetings. In addition, the management team had an open-door approach however, encouraged staff to utilise the senior care staff who had extensive knowledge and could be of support to them.

Feedback from staff was mostly positive and they felt supported by colleagues and the management team.

The provider also funded counselling for staff should they need it. Working in a care setting can be stressful and upsetting and having recognised this, support was offered.