Westmorland Court Nursing and 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 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.

The provider always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity.

Staff felt they delivered a high standard of care which gave people dignity and promoted their emotional wellbeing. One staff member told us, “I provide people with dignity. For example, during personal care and where people are not able to understand, I ensure this is done in private, that people are covered and not exposed to those not involved in their care. I explain what I am doing throughout.”

Relatives confirmed staff were kind and caring. A relative told us, “I used to come every day, so I saw how my [person] was treated by the staff. They were always spoken to with kind words and given personal care when necessary.”

Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. One visiting professional told us, “The nurses are really nice and very helpful when I visit. People look well cared for.”

The provider treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. For example, we observed a staff member support a person when trying to get up from their chair. The staff member understood the person’s individual needs, arranging for further staff support and moving and handling equipment, while waiting with the person and reassuring them.

The provider took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture, unique backgrounds and protected characteristics. One relative told us, “The staff work hard to care for [person]. When [person] first came, they put the staff under a lot of pressure with their behaviours. However, the staff deserve credit for how they have supported them.”

People’s religious needs were met. The registered manager told us, “We have somebody from a local church visit to meet the religious needs of some of our residents.”

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.

Although we observed some care plans which included person centred information about people’s interests and life stories, some care plans required improvements to ensure they included details about their interests.

The provider employed an activities coordinator. We observed group activities taking place such as the use of an interactive floor screen and card games, but improvements were required to ensure people could participate in meaningful and person-centred activities.

One relative told us, “The lounge is noisy and doesn't have a calm atmosphere. [Person] gets very anxious and other than their room, there is no quiet space. This is not good for residents with anxiety issues. There is a lack of activities.” Another relative told us, “The staff try to encourage my [person] but they don’t like the lounge which is too big and noisy. I know staff are busy but maybe just a little time with them chatting would help.”

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 people were responded to straight away when they requested support. For example, when 1 person became distressed in their room, staff responded quickly and provided reassurance which helped them to settle.

One person told us, “I don't wait for help when I need it. There is usually someone here.” Another person told us, “I am safe because the staff don't let me fall. I sit in the lounge and there is always someone there [to support me].”

The provider did not always care about and promote the wellbeing of their staff. They did not always support or enable staff to deliver person-centred care.

Although staff spoke fondly about how well the registered manager supported them, some felt there was not enough staff to ensure people’s needs could be met in a timely way and in line with people’s care plans; and some felt the provider did not acknowledge how hard they worked to support people well. For example, one staff member told us, “We hear a lot of negatives about how we are doing but sometimes we need appreciation too.”

Staff wellbeing was discussed in one-to-meetings with a senior or manager, and in team meetings.