Cherry Lodge

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 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 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 told us they felt the staff treated them with kindness. A person said, “Staff are very good, all kind, they treat us well.” Another person told us, “Staff are all lovely, all of them.” This was confirmed by relatives. A relative said, “[Staff] definitely respect [family member].” Another relative told us, “The staff are so good with [family member]. [Family member] has a good sense of humour and [staff] laugh with [family member].” Another relative said, “Staff are respectful, [family member] really likes them all, [staff] are lovely with [family member], it is a good home, lucky to get [family member] in there.”

We observed staff interacted with people in a kind and professional manner. They communicated effectively with people, such as positioning themselves at people’s eye level to maintain eye contact.

People told us they felt their privacy was respected. A person said, “They knock on my door.” This was confirmed in our observations, staff knocked on doors before entering and ensured doors were closed when people were receiving support with their personal care.

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’s diverse needs were identified in their care plans, including their history, abilities and what they wanted to achieve by using the service. Activity profiles included people’s aspirations and what they wanted to do.

People’s individuality was respected and promoted, this included people’s bedrooms which were personalised. Support was provided to people with their spiritual needs, this included weekly visits from a place of worship when a person was no longer able to attend in the community. A person had a pet, which they took the responsibility of caring for. The person and a staff member told us how their Christmas gift from the service was personalised and in line with what they had wanted.

A relative told us, “[Family member] has dementia… [staff] understand [family member] and work alongside [family member]. Had some hiccups at the beginning, got [support from external professionals]. [Family member] is settled now and in a happy place.”

We received some feedback from relatives that other people’s clothing was in their family member’s bedrooms. We saw records which showed this had been raised in a recent concern, as a result staff had been spoken with about ensuring people received their own clothing, and this was being monitored.

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

People’s care records identified how people made choices in their daily lives and the areas of their care they could attend to independently. A person told us about an area of their care they attended to independently, which was respected. They said staff observed and were there if they needed assistance. A relative told us, “[Family member] likes to do things [independently], staff respect that. Staff have tried to help but [family member] will not budge, but they encourage and help where [family member] needs it, they do respect [family member’s] independence and choices, if not it would make [family member] unhappy.”

There was signage in the service, such as where the bathrooms were, this assisted people to independently find them. There were signs on bedroom doors, which had the person initials, the registered manager told us they were looking at asking people what they would like on their doors to personalise them and help them to recognise their own rooms to independently locate them.

People told us their choices were respected, this included what they wanted to wear, eat and how they spent their day. This was confirmed in our observations.

People’s relatives told us they were able to visit their family members with no restrictions. One relative said, “When we visit we go in [family member’s] room or in the communal lounge, have a laugh and joke with the other residents and the staff, they seem to have things going on.”

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 told us the staff were available when they needed them. This was confirmed in our observations; staff were attentive to people’s needs and requests for assistance were responded to promptly. A relative told us, “[Family member] does not have to wait if [they] need help.” Another relative told us, “I spoke with [staff member], I said [family member] had a tummy ache. [Staff] came in had a chat [with us and family member] and called GP straight away, so good.” This demonstrated staff responded quickly when concerns had been raised about their wellbeing.

We observed a person had been upset, this was quickly identified by staff, who reassured the person.

Call bell audits were undertaken which assisted the management team to check they were answered in a timely way.

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

Staff received training and support to meet people’s needs. The registered manager told us how the staff team worked well together and they were proud of the team and how they worked with people. Staff were supported to undertake qualifications relevant to their role and supported to develop in their role if they wished to.

The registered manager told us they were available for staff if they needed to raise any concerns or seek support and operated an ‘open door’. The registered manager told us they bought in cakes for staff when they identified morale may be low.

There was a lack of a staff room in the service. There was a seating area on the top of the stairs, and the area previously used by staff was being used temporarily as the registered manager’s office. The registered manager told us staff had not always previously used the area, but now they were reviewing this to ensure staff had a place to go on their breaks.