Betsy Clara Nursing 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 mostly 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.

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 staff were kind, friendly and approachable. People were mostly treated with respect and were supported to spend their time how the chose. However, a person did not feel always treated with respect by staff. They said, “They’re patronising and say things like, come along dear. They pat me on the head like a dog.” We observed a staff member doing this to the person when they were supporting them to go to a different room.

We observed several positive interactions throughout the inspection. Staff had an open, friendly rapport with people and most staff knew people very well. Care provided was person centred. Staff knew people’s personalities and preferences and were able to ensure people were comfortable and happy.

Relatives told us, “I’d say the staff are caring and friendly. They do chat with [person]”; “The staff knock on [person’s] bedroom door before entering”; “They’re friendly enough, but [loved one] says they’re nice to your face. I don’t know why he says that” and “The girls are good, and they know [loved one] and treat her well.” We received mixed reviews from people. People told us, “Sometimes they’re caring” and “They are ok in the living room.”

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.

We observed staff respecting people’s choices and treating people as individuals. People’s cultural and religious needs were documented in care plans, and people were supported to have visits from religious ministers/clergy if this was their wish. Regular church services had been taking place; however, the vicar had fallen ill, and this had been communicated to people and relatives. The newsletter stated, ‘We are unable to hold regular church services due to our vicar’s ill health. We are currently looking for a replacement and will update you as soon as we have more information.’ The registered manager told us people had been taken out to churches to join services.

Staff told us they had supported people to go out into the community. The service had purchased a minibus to enable outings. We saw pictures of some of these outings on display in the service. People’s birthdays were celebrated, a cake was made, and they were made to feel special.

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

Staff told us how they supported people to make decisions and choices throughout the day. They detailed how they supported people to maintain their independence. Staff said, “I encourage self-feeding, provide guidance, assist only when needed”; “I encourage them to do things such as feeding and dressing themselves if I notice that they can do it” and “I encourage residents to remain active for example, motivating them to walk and engage in hobbies.”

Some people went out with their families. There was a varied choice of activities available for people. Various outside entertainers came to sing and play music. Bingo, quizzes, art, garden parties and theme days took place. We observed staff supporting people to read books and magazines, some people chose to watch movies. Activities were led by internal activities staff and volunteers. A person told us, “I did some good dancing and now they want me to do it all the time and singing.”

A health and social care professional told us, “I have been sent photos of one of my residents who lives with dementia and is unpredictable being taken out to Mote Park and eating an ice cream with 2:1 carer support. I have seen the outside entertainers coming into the property.”

A relative said, “I would like dad to get outside more, he does go in garden on sunny days, he likes music, he seems engaged. He likes to watch others. The Facebook page here is good, we saw dad singing karaoke (on the group), it is closed group.” A person told us, “I’ve managed to learn to use my hands to sketch again and [staff member] got me paper. I don’t like the music they play. They only play what suits older people. I like rock music. They had a fundraiser in the garden.” A relative said, “I’m not sure what my husband does during the day, but I hear the music always playing. My husband has complained to me about it. He’s a fan of rock music, particularly the Rolling Stones.”

People told us they were supported with maintaining contact with their friends and relatives. Comments included, “He visits every day” and “I see my daughter from my first marriage.” Staff told us they would try and encourage people to come to the lounge or dining room so that they did not become isolated but respected their choices if they declined. We observed staff supporting people from the men’s units within the service to the main lounge. They were able to spend time with people and get involved with activities.

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.

We observed staff responding to people’s needs in a timely manner. At busy times when care staff were supporting people to get up and ready for the day, staff attended to people using their call bells and listened to what the person wanted. Staff provided explanations and told people they would go back to them when they finish supporting another person. We observed they did go back and provide support when they said they would. Some people had additional staff allocated to them to keep them safe. We observed these staff enabling people to move around the service. A person was at high risk of falls and utilised equipment to minimise injury if they fell. We observed they spent a lot of time walking and moving around the service. Staff tailored their support to meet their needs such as standing with the person to support the person to eat and drink.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. The provider had systems and processes in place to promote and support staff wellbeing. However, some staff reported this was not always embedded. A staff member said, “No proactive mental health support: one recent well-being survey hasn’t led to action.” Another staff member reported they had reported concerns around staff practice towards other staff which was not dealt with. Another staff member said, “I am not sure about care packages to support staff well-being, I have not been told about it, it would be good if there was something in place for staff.” Staff were all given company life assurance, staff had access to a virtual GP service and mental health support as well as a tailored fitness programme. Staff told us they had been offered flexible working when they needed it. A staff member said, “We have flexipoints and we get good feedback on Nominate. Sometimes management send us feedback messages on [electronic care planning system] when a relative has given feedback.”