Primrose Bank Care 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 changed to outstanding. This meant people were truly respected and valued as individuals; and empowered as partners in their care in an exceptional service.

This service scored 90 (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 was exceptional at treating people with kindness, empathy and compassion and in how they respected people’s privacy and dignity. Staff always treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

People, relatives and professionals consistently told us they were treated with kindness and compassion. One person commented, “The manager and carers have been wonderful with me.” A further person said, “I’m loved here, and I feel loved.” A relative told us, “They are all good and I can’t praise them enough for looking after me as well as [family member].” Another relative said of the service, “Kindness runs through there, absolutely runs through there.” An external agency told us Primrose Bank Care Home fostered compassion, care and community spirit within their home and throughout the local area.

Staff and the management team spoke passionately about the importance of caring for people and their relatives. They told us they worked together as a team to try and ensure people, and their relatives were cared for and supported. The registered manager told us they understood the emotions relatives may experience. They wanted to support them and help them to have happy experiences with, and memories of the people they loved. One relative described the joy of having ‘dinner nights’ with their family member at the service. They explained the service held evenings where the dining room was transformed into a restaurant, and restaurant style food was served. They shared that their family member was unable to experience this outside the service and as a family, they had been able to share this experience with their family member. They told us their family member did not join in other activities; however, they did take part in the dinner nights which they enjoyed. They said, “It’s a truly wonderful experience for us all.”

The provider delivered ongoing emotional support, comfort and their time to relatives in memory of their deceased loved one. For example, the provider had created a digital photo and video of a person’s time at the service which was set to music. This was placed on a portable digital device and presented to the person’s relative in an engraved wooden box. The registered manager told us they wanted to support the relative to celebrate their loved one’s life and offer them comfort.

Staff spoke about the importance of creating a caring environment. One staff member shared they had been unable to work and the caring approach of management and staff had enabled them to recommence their employment. They said, “We all care for each other as well as the residents. That’s what’s different here.” Another staff member said, “I’ve never worked anywhere where there’s so much respect and compassion towards everyone.”

Interactions between staff and people were consistently warm and friendly. People were relaxed in the presence of staff and laughed and joked with them and staff took the time to listen to people and understand them. People’s privacy and dignity was protected as staff ensured confidential personal information was discussed in a private environment, and staff knocked on private bedroom doors before entering. If people were being helped with personal care, staff told us they drew the curtains and ensured the door was firmly shut.

The provider treated people as individuals and was exceptional in how they made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. The provider took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

People were supported to have their social needs met by a provider who reflected their cultural background and preferences in the events provided. The provider recognised people’s individuality and people were empowered to build on and continue lived experiences and revisit community interests. The operations manager and registered manager told us they valued people’s life experiences and recognised some people had close community links which they wanted to maintain. The operations manager said, “Life doesn’t stop just because you go into a care home.” The provider sponsored some local community groups as these were important to people.

We saw examples of how people’s preferences were explored and fulfilled. We saw a person who lived at the home had helped open Poulton Gala as a guest of honour. This was arranged as it was important to them to take part and relive special memories. In addition, the provider had built a small putting green at the service and sponsored a local golf club. This was as some people at the home enjoyed playing golf and they were supported to attend the golf club when they wished to do so.

The provider sought to identify and remove barriers to people’s experiences. If people experienced challenges with their mobility which impacted on transport arrangements, specialist transport was hired to enable people to continue with their expressed interests. For example, some people were visiting a local seaside town with the use of specialist transport, and they were also spending time on the beach and in the sea if wished, with the use of hired adapted beach wheelchairs. A relative commented, “They can pivot and adapt very quickly.”

One relative described the care their family member experienced, they said, “My [family member] is living their best life there.” They shared that the care was person-centred and focused on needs, wishes and strengths and commented, “It’s put me from being a carer, back to being a [relative] again.”

The provider supported people’s religious faiths and built on positive relationships. People who could not attend church and wished to do so were visited by a local vicar who also took part in celebrations such as Armistice Day and VE Day celebrations at the home. In addition, the provider sought to promote and foster intergenerational relationships by encouraging children from the local Sunday School, primary school and nursery not only to visit but to take part in activities such as gardening. One relative described the joyfulness of people when this took place and said, “People’s eyes light up when the children come in.” and “it’s full of life, a place to live.”

The provider was exceptional at promoting people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. People were supported to follow their own interests and hobbies. There was the varied events calendar at the service which was shaped by people who used the service. One person shared how they knitted for charities and how much they valued this. They told us, “I feel like I’m giving something back.” and” my life is more fulfilled here. I have more of a fuller life here than I was at home.” There was also a knitting club which had knitted Christmas angels to be placed in the local community at Christmas. A further person told us they had an interest in vegetable gardening and as a result they had an area in the garden where they had planted and were growing vegetables to be used in the kitchen.

Relatives praised the service for the range of events it provided. One relative commented, “Whoever organises the activities is a genius.” A further relative shared that their family member had become isolated and staff had explored their family members interests and supported them to take part in their areas of interest. They said, “[Family member] has gone from sitting in a room to being a social butterfly again.” They told us their family member had memory challenges and only remembered things that had an impact on them. They went on to say their family member was so excited and enjoyed when the donkeys visited, and they had remembered this. They said, “That place lets her live her life, a full life right to the very end.”

A third relative shared the happiness their family member experienced. They told us the service enabled people to go on virtual cruises. Their family member had been on a virtual cruise by wearing a virtual reality headset, the dining room had been decorated in the theme of the country being visited and the food reflected the country’s traditional dishes. They said their family member moved into the service and loved it so much they wanted to stay. They believed this had a positive impact on their family member as they were no longer isolated and enjoyed being at Primrose Bank Care Home. They commented, “They’ve elongated her life.”

People and relatives told us visiting was supported. During the assessment process we saw visitors were welcomed to the home and encouraged to take part in events if this was their wish. One relative commented, “I come and take [family member] out every Thursday to the working men’s club in Cleveleys. [Family member] enjoys meeting up with their friends. I like coming in to listen to the entertainment it is fantastic.”

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.

People were supported by staff who knew them well and responded quickly if this was needed. One person commented, “They are very caring; they know me better than I know myself.” During the assessment we saw call bells were answered quickly and staff discretely monitored people and approached them if they were concerned. For example, we saw a staff member remind a person to use their mobility aid and they walked with the person offering encouragement. This helped minimise the risk of falls and supported the person to move safely.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff, and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care.

Staff told us they felt valued and empowered by the management team. They said they were able to discuss any suggestions or concerns they had, and they were listened to. Staff were encouraged to take breaks, and we noted a change to break times had been introduced. This had been discussed with staff, and the change was to enable more time to be spent with people using the service, and to help ensure staff had breaks at times that were more appropriate for them.

A staffing tool was in place to inform the number of staff provided and dedicated staff were in place for catering, laundry, housekeeping and events/entertainment. This helped ensure roles were clear and understood.

The registered manager told us if staff required additional support this would be arranged, or they would sign post staff to appropriate resources.