Orchardown Rest 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 75 (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. We observed a number of positive interactions throughout the inspection. Staff had an open, friendly rapport with people and clearly knew people very well. Care provided was person centred, people were treated with respect and were supported to spend their time how the chose.

When people became anxious or upset, staff responded promptly. Staff knew people’s personalities and preferences, and were able to ensure people were comfortable, happy and were quick to identify when things could cause people anxiety. For example, 1 person had been sent a different brand of prescribed medicine. This was a tablet form and looked different to the one they had taken previously. Staff were aware this may cause confusion for the person and could lead to them refusing to take it. Staff were quick to follow this up with the persons GP and pharmacy to try and get this rectified.
 

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. Staff knew about people’s personal life history, backgrounds and preferences, this information was used to help people continue to do the things that were important to them.

Staff could tell us about people in great detail and went out of their way to support people to be happy and feel valued as individuals. This included researching groups and arranging for people to attend activities independently outside of the home. People were encouraged to go out with staff for coffee or to the shops when this was possible. The provider also took people out individually for meals and trips out in nice weather or to celebrate special occasions. A person was due to move rooms at their request and staff had taken the time to involve them in planning how the room would be decorated. This had included contacting a family member to ask them to send items of memorabilia important to the person so they could display these in their room.
 

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

People were supported to remain as independent as possible, and their choices were respected. Some people went out regularly on their own or with family. There was a varied choice of activities available for people. A new activity interactive table had been purchased, and people were using this to do word games together, with staff. Several visiting entertainers were part of the weekly entertainment including exercise classes, music and pet therapy. A person told us “I like the activity board, keeps you thinking which is good. We are a happy bunch here. I like the keyboard when they come in to play, lots of the old songs which we like and we use the Alexa when we fancy a bit of music, you just tell it what you would like to hear, we particularly like the 60’s music.” For people who chose to stay in their rooms, or did not like to participate in group activities staff told us they made time to go in and chat to people. 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.
 

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.
Staff recognised when people were becoming anxious or upset and responded promptly. A person had told staff they did not enjoy eating with everyone else in the dining room due to the noise level. Staff had discussed this with them and had made arrangements for them to sit in the quiet TV area at mealtimes. This person told us, “I like to eat by myself in a quiet area it’s like Picadilly circus in the dining room and too noisy for me, so staff have sorted it out for me to eat somewhere quieter, which I am very happy with.”

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff, and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care.
Many of the staff worked at the service for a long time. Staff told us they were happy working at Orchardown and felt supported by the management and provider. People and relatives were very complimentary about all management and staff. Telling us, “Over the years I have got to know the staff well” and “The staff are always welcoming. They are confident, respectful and come across that they are very well trained.”

Staff felt they were given training and support to enable them to provide appropriate care for people and meet their needs. A staff member said, “I am happy and supported, there is nothing I would change.” And another “No concerns at all, I am very happy and like the job. It’s a nice atmosphere.” Staff meetings had taken place and staff also had supervision. Ad hoc supervisions and discussions took place although these were not always documented. Staff had no concerns and felt they could discuss any worries with the manager or deputy should they need to.