Archived: The Chestnuts

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 changed to Requires improvement. This meant people did not always feel well-supported, cared for or treated with dignity and respect.

This service scored 60 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People were treated with kindness, empathy and compassion. However, staff did not always show respect for people’s private space. We observed staff did not routinely knock prior to entering people’s rooms. One person told us “Often someone comes in when I am sitting on the toilet, younger staff come in [to bedroom] sometimes [with another resident] and don’t seem to think it is wrong”. We have provided feedback to the provider to address this with staff.

People and their relatives told us they thought the staff were caring. Comments included, “The staff here are very good”, “The older ones are the best ones because they know things about this place” and “There are some spectacular carers there... they are just so genuinely good.” Another person told us “I always can talk to [name of staff] and [name of staff], they are good and treat me well”.

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.

One person told us “I can go to bed when I want to, usually about 8 o’clock, I do need some help then”.

We observed staff knew people’s preferences, for instance, one person who did not communicate a lot verbally was given their chosen drink. It was clear this was their preference as they greeted the staff with a smile and drank the whole drink. Earlier we had seen the same person with discarded drinks by 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 and their relatives gave us mixed feedback about the amount of choice they have. We also observed mixed opportunities for people to make an informed choice. For instance, we observed some staff would ask people what they wanted to drink and eat, by showing different options, however not all staff did this. We observed some staff remove plates of uneaten food from people without always checking with them they had finished.

Relatives told us they did not always have choices. One relative told us “There was no choice of which room [person] moved in to”, they also told us “There was nothing in place to settle [person] when they first moved here, no one handled that, I took in furniture and had to go and sort things out, then I had to leave [person] in a distressed state, it was horrible”.

Other people told us they did have choices and were encouraged to be independent. One person told us “I had a fall before I came here, I can still walk but slowly and I should use a walker, they [staff] are always saying I must use it but often when they are absent, I take a chance and go unaided, the first thing they say is ‘use your walker’”. Another person told us “I prefer to have a bath rather than a shower, they know and leave me in the bath when they have checked the water temperature, then they come back a little later”.

People had their needs assessed and were asked about their wishes and views. However, staff did not always respond to people’s needs in the moment or act to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress.

We observed few calls bells were used by people. People who were at risk of falling whilst in their room had sensors to alert staff when movement occurred. However, we observed delays in the sensors being responded to by staff.

People sitting in the lounge areas did not have any method apart from their voice to alert staff they needed assistance. We observed there were short periods of time when no staff were present in the lounge observing people.

People had aids and adaptations to support them. However, one relative told us “We [family] bought [relative] some hearing aids, not NHS ones, [person] couldn’t really survive without them, but I had to take them away in the end because no one would ever put them in for her”.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to work with people.

Staff who provided feedback told us they felt valued at work. One member of staff told us how the workforce was diverse and difference was respected, they told us they felt they had a voice and could make suggestions about positive changes. Another staff member told us they were recognised for their hard work.

The provider was able to give us examples of how they have supported staff with health concerns. Agency staff who worked at The Chestnuts told us they are treated fairly and feel part of the team.