Homelands 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 inadequate. At this assessment the rating has changed to good. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

This service scored 70 (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 treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. We observed staff supporting people in a dignified way and spoke with people kindly, however, on 2 occasions staff spoke to or about people’s private matters in public spaces. Although this was not intended to be unkind, we fed this back to the management team who said they would remind staff to be more mindful of holding discussions in public. People and their relatives told us staff were caring, comments included, “I think the staff know me, and I know them too.” And, “The carers know [person] and gets a good response from them. They (staff) are friendly and caring. I’ve always been satisfied with them. When they move [person] they explain what they are doing. They close the door when changing or bathing [person].”

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. At our last inspection, people living in the Coach House were not always treated as individuals, staff now ensured people’s wishes and preferences were considered whilst receiving support. People were addressed by their chosen name or nick name and we observed staff spoke with people in their preferred manner, for example, some people liked friendly banter, whilst others favoured a more formal approach. A relative told us, “The quality of dementia care is human and very caring. The staff are very patient. That’s nice to see, and they seem quite knowledgeable. They keep records and logs. I went on the weekend and they were cleaning [person]. I was ushered out of the room and the door was closed. They call [person] by their first name. They encourage [person] to talk to their ‘babies’ (teddy bears).” Some care plans contained details of preference, such as, wearing perfume and jewellery. Religious services were available in the Manor House, some people living in the Coach House attended. A member of the management team told us they were arranging additional services to take place in the Coach House. Some people practiced their faith at chosen places outside the service; staff were aware of their schedules and ensured they were ready to go out.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. Works had been carried out to promote more choices and independence for people. People living with advancing dementia had opportunities to express their wishes, for example, a pictorial menu had been created so they could make choices. A staff member commented on this and said, “(People’s) eyes light up at what they want.” Managers made sure activities were more accessible for people, magazines, word games and vintage dolls were at hand for people to take as they pleased. Activity workers had been employed to ensure there was social stimulation in both the Manor House and Coach House, they were working to get to know people and devise activities based on wants and preferences. In the Coach House we observed hand and arm massages taking place in the earlier morning and livelier sessions took place as more people arrived in the lounge. A person told us, “They are doing more activities now, I am happy.”

The provider mostly 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 understood people’s health conditions and were able to respond quickly to a change in their needs. We observed staff responding to call bells and sitting with people, engaging with them and making sure they had drinks. We received mostly positive feedback from relatives, comments included, “I reported once when [person] had three days in bed that they needed prompting (to get up). Staff jumped straight on that. We've had a social service review recently I feel [person] needs a dementia assessment, they're very responsive and they act on reporting any changes.” Although a visitor told us, “[Person] doesn’t like to go to bed early. We have made a point of it. [Person’s] wishes will be fully respected. The assigned carer wanted to put [person] to bed at 4pm and it wasn’t even three o’clock. It happened this Sunday. I video called and talked to the nurse station. And they sent another carer to [person].”

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff, and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. Works were ongoing to increase staff well-being; the new management team provided more opportunities for staff engagement. A spring party had been held earlier in the year and a summer party was planned for mid-July, this was for staff, people and their relatives to get together. An employee assist programme was offered so staff could access practical and emotional support from trained professionals if needed. Staff were asked to complete a ‘this is me’ form to enable leaders to understand them and offer support where identified. We saw improvements in the risk management and handling of cytotoxic medicines (medicines that have the potential to damage normal tissue when handled directly by staff). This had been raised as a concern at the previous inspection. A staff member commented on the changes since our last inspection and said, “Of course I do feel valued. It’s not just the manager or deputies, the owners did everything to improve things, and we realised they do care about us (staff). For the residents too. We were lucky they were supportive and did their job to improve the place.”