Mont Calm 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 Inadequate. At this assessment the rating has changed to Requires Improvement. This meant people did not always feel well-supported, cared for or treated with dignity and respect.

This service scored 50 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People fed back that staff were caring with comments included, “I think every single one of them [staff] are very caring”, “It’s the staff that make the place, they’re considerate and caring” and “The staff are 20/20, the staff are lovely.”

In the main we observed staff to be kind in their approach to people. However, there were occasions where staff could be more respectful. For example, we observed staff during lunch to be discussing out loud in front of people the list of who they needed to support and their needs including, “(Person) won’t eat”, “What shall we do about (Person)?” and “He ate really well yesterday”. This was not dignified. We also observed another member of staff speaking abruptly to a person they were supporting to eat and drink with comments including, “Start eating now” and “Open your mouth”. We spoke to the registered manager about this who immediately addressed this with the staff member.

However, we observed other occasions where staff were attentive and caring towards people. A member of staff was supporting a person to have their personal care. They ensured the person was ok and not walking too fast. Another member of staff was seen to greet people as they walked past them.

The provider did not always treat people as individuals or make sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. We found people’s rooms varied in their appearance with some being pleasantly decorated and personalised. 1 relative told us, “(Family members) bedroom is lovely, all new furniture.” Other bedrooms were stark and unhomely with barely any personalisation. In 2 people’s rooms their curtains were hanging off of the curtain rail. During lunch a member of staff asked 2 people if they would like to sit with them at the table. Although the member of staff chatted a bit with the people, they were taking this time to also update their handheld care devices with care notes. We often saw staff sitting with people whilst also updating care notes.

We did see examples of people being treated as individuals. One member of staff was chatting to people about their interests. A member of staff gave 1 person a sensory item for them to interact with which according to their care plan was important to them.

The provider did not always promote people’s independence, so people did not always know their rights and have choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. People told us they did not always feel they were able to make their own choices. Comments included, “I have a shower once a week, it’s like a schedule. I would like one every other day”, “There’s no reason why I shouldn’t have alcohol, I do miss it, it would be nice to have a glass or two at dinner” and “Staff don’t like you to watch TV during the day.”

As at the previous assessment, when we arrived at the service in the morning there were multiple people asleep in the lounge. Although the registered manager told us people had the option to get up in the morning when they wanted, we saw from care notes that the majority of people were supported to get up and have personal care by night staff. We also observed that whilst there were people that were offered choices of what meal they wanted, this was not the case for all people. When asked why this was, one member of staff told us, “We ask the people with capacity, but the people who don’t have capacity, we don’t ask.” This was a lack of consideration for people living with dementia who should still be given the opportunity to make choices.

However, since the last assessment, we saw people now had a choice of whether they wanted to have a bath or a shower as the Provider had installed a new shower. We saw some people were able independently to use all areas of the home. One member of staff told us, “If someone could do things for themselves, I would encourage this. For example, if they were having a bath, I would supervise and only help them when they needed it.”

The provider did not always listen to and understand people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff did not always respond to people’s needs in the moment or act to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. We found that space in some of the communal areas was limited and observed the activities coordinator had to sit in a position that blocked the view of the television for others. On another occasion we observed the television was on, but it was not loud enough for people to hear. There was music playing in the neighbouring room, so the audio was clashing. One person was overheard saying, “It’s like a mad house.” During lunch a member of staff tried to place a small table in front of a person to place his meal. We observed the legs of the table touched the person’s feet several times and they winced and made a noise to indicate it was painful.

However, there were instances where staff did respond to people’s immediate needs. One member of staff was spending time with a person setting up their new phone. Where people were struggling to eat their meals, 1 staff member was seen to sit with them and encourage them. One person had a problem with the reception on the television in their room and the registered manager asked a member of staff to address this which they did. We observed 1 person became distressed when their visitor was leaving and we saw a member of staff reassure them that the visitor would be back the next day. We saw this settled the person.

Leaders cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff. Staff told us they felt supported and if they had any personal concerns they could approach the registered manager. We saw since the last assessment the provider had converted a room into a staff room, so they had a space to relax when they were on a break. The registered manager told us, “We have always invited staff to operate an open door system, if they feel they are not being supported or overwhelmed or concerned with their mental health. We always remind staff members as well to come to us with any worries.”