Arbory Residential 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 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.

Throughout the inspection, the atmosphere was friendly and calm, despite the hot weather. Staff kept curtains and blinds drawn to keep rooms as cool as possible.

Staff understood how to maintain people’s dignity. For example, we observed one person eating an ice lolly which had started to melt and was dripping on the person’s clothes. A staff member waited until the person had finished their lolly and then took them to their bedroom to change.

We saw positive interactions between staff and people. People appeared relaxed and we saw small groups of people in lounge areas and in a shaded outside area, talking amongst themselves. The majority of staff spoke to people by name, including other support staff such as housekeeping and maintenance. For example, we saw that when maintenance staff passed through communal areas, they acknowledged people and had a short conversation. When one person asked if another fan could be switched on, this was immediately acted on.

People and their relatives spoke highly of the staff. They described staff as, “Very attentive and caring” and “very kind.” One person’s relative told us, “[Relative] is close to a couple of members of staff. [Name of staff member] is wonderful with [relative], with the right approach for motivating [relative], for example for having a shower. The activities coordinator and manager always have time for [relative] as well.”

The provider treated people as individuals. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

People’s life stories were recorded, and these were detailed. People’s relatives told us they were asked for this information during the face-to-face pre-assessment process.

People and their relatives told us there was a range of activities on offer which catered for a variety of needs. People spoke highly of the activities staff. We saw the activities calendar was on display in communal areas and included live music, bingo, cooking, gardening and visits from museums. For example, a visit from the team at the local motor museum was planned for June as well as a summer fair and we saw that community engagement with local politicians was available for those people who wanted to get involved.

There was a secure garden which we saw people make use of, with shaded areas. One person’s relative said, “[Name] does more than they ever did at home. Group activities are not great for [name], so they’ve used the gardener to get [name] involved with little tasks there.

[Name] has made a friend and has become happy and chatty with others.” Other relatives told us activities staff spent time with people who preferred to stay in their bedrooms rather than take part in group activities.

Staff who enjoyed gardening, worked with people to grow vegetables, which we saw, and the chef told us they used these for meals.

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 we looked at described what people were able to do for themselves alongside when they might need staff support. For example, some care plans we looked at informed staff to encourage people to maintain their independence when washing, or dressing. One person’s relative said, “The main thing for [name] is being given just the right amount of push by staff to do what [name] needs to do.”

Staff used a recognised tool to assess people’s health condition. This tool assisted them to know when to escalate concerns and seek further support. One staff member said, “If I feel someone is not looking well, I do observations, check their oxygen levels and everything else. Then I call 111 or 999 if I feel it’s really urgent and they are at risk.”

In the main, we saw that staff responded quickly to people. For example, we observed one person calling out and complaining of being in pain. A staff member crouched down beside the person and reassured them, stroking their back. Despite the person continuing to call out, the staff member remained calm and reassuring, explaining that some pain relief medicine was on its way. However, on some occasions, we saw people who needed a member of staff to support them with something, and there was no staff member close by.

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

Staff told us they felt well supported by the current management team for work related issues and for personal ones too. They told us they felt well trained, confident in their roles and were supported by the manager. Staff said they were provided with training opportunities such as NVQ qualifications and additional training for senior support staff. One staff member said, “If there’s problems at home they work with you and they do support us. I can’t complain about the support I have received.”

The provider offered some incentives for staff. This included an awards event, and celebrations at Christmas. The manager told us they had reintroduced an employee of the month scheme. They said, “You have to have the right staff for the job. They have to know what they're doing. Employee of the month was reintroduced last month. The staff get a voucher and some flowers and a card. It’s just been me voting for the last few months, then I will open it up for staff and visitors to vote.”