121 Watleys End Road

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 65 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Not all staff treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion, or respect their privacy and dignity.Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

While staff interactions were generally kind, the engagement with people was mixed. Two members of staff were observed not communicating with the person they were supporting during their mealtime, or when a person removed an item of clothing or had their face and hands washed after lunch.

Another member of staff stood over someone whilst assisting with their lunchtime meal rather than sitting beside the person. This was fed back to the registered manager who said they were working with staff about how they could improve interactions to ensure it was not task orientated and more person centred.

The provider’s action plan had identified some new staff and agency staff may benefit from back to basic training such as to support people with eating and drinking and improving engagement with people. Three staff had been identified to mentor new staff as part of their induction to assist with inhouse training and developing the skills of staff.

Staff spoke about people in a positive way, showing kindness. Staff were observed knocking on people’s bedroom doors before entering their bedrooms. It was positive to see staff had redirected staff where they were stood up supporting a person to eat and when the music was loud during the lunchtime period.

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 individual care plans were person centred and included their interests, likes and dislikes and how they wanted to be supported. It was evident that families were involved and their views sought through care plan reviews. A relative said the staff had been responsive when they suggested that breakfast was served earlier for their loved one as this would have been their preference if they were able to fully communicate this to staff.

People had their own possessions, photographs, and artwork and personal items in their bedrooms. These had been decorated in people’s favourite colours and reflected the person’s personality. These items and decorations helped to ensure each room felt personal and was individual for the person. One person proudly showed us their bedroom and showed us pictures of their family and told us about their interests.

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 included what the person could do for themselves and where they needed support. One person told us that they liked to help tidy up their room and assist with the laundry.

Staff promoted and helped people to maintain their independence. For example, providing adapted crockery and cutlery, so they could eat independently with little or no staff support.

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.

Care plans clearly described how each person wanted to be supported. This included preferences for getting up and going to bed. For example, 1 person had a unique way of showing they were tired and wanted to go to bed. This was clearly described in their care plan. This level of information enabled staff to respond to the person’s immediate needs and respond to them in a person-centred way, meeting their individual needs.

We observed staff being attentive and responding to people when they needed support. Staff recognised different ways in which people communicated discomfort or distress, including both verbal and non-verbal cues. One person was coughing and staff immediately responded to help the person and offer a drink. Care records showed staff knew people well and prompt referrals were made to the GP if a person was unwell. Alongside staff observations, physical checks were completed on people’s vital signs such as taking their blood pressure and temperature. This was recorded and reviewed if a person was unwell. This was important as most of the people were unable to verbally communicate to the staff they were unwell or in pain.

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

Staff were positive about working in the home. It was acknowledged by all, that the home was a very busy home. They described a team that was supportive of each other. Staff said it was getting better as less agency staff was being used and the new staff were settling in and getting to know people.

Staff said often they were unable to complete administrative tasks due to busy shifts. It was evident the management team were listening to the staff. A recent team building day had been held to listen to staff’s concerns and suggestions. An action plan had been devised to address the concerns and make improvements. This was still being embedded.

One of the actions the management team were introducing was for staff to have a supernumerary shift per month to enable them to fulfil their roles as keyworkers and complete the administrative tasks expected of them. Staff had raised during the team building day they were often overworked and undervalued. In response, the registered manager had introduced a gallery where staff could record positive feedback about each other and an employee of the month award. This showed the provider was listening to staff and taking action.

Two members of staff described to us how they had been supported with adjustments to enable them to continue to work. It was evident they were proud of the work they did and the support that had been shown to them. They described how staff were caring and supportive when they were unable to help with moving and handling.

Staff were supported to progress their career pathways with opportunities to progress to assistant team leaders, nurse practitioners or complete nurse associate roles. A member of staff told us, “A lot of training is required and most of it is useful. The moving and handling training is very helpful to protect the residents and our back health”.