Walton Lodge

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 70 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People were treated with kindness, empathy and compassion and their privacy and dignity respected. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. Staff understood the importance of promoting dignified care. For example, staff supported people in an inclusive, sensitive and friendly manner, treating them with dignity and respect. They displayed a genuine affection and caring for the people they supported, and everyone seemed at ease with each other. For instance, at mealtimes staff sat with people in the dining room to eat their meals together, chatting and interacting in a very homely manner. We also saw people going in and out of the office to talk to staff about their day or something they wanted to do, like going shopping.

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 recognised people as individuals. Options and choices were routinely offered to people. For instance, people were asked what meals they preferred, what time they want to go to bed and how they wanted their room decorating. The latter was evidenced by the different rooms we looked at. Some people had chosen to have minimal personal items in their rooms, while other people had posters and lots of personal items. For instance, 1 person told us how they loved red and had their bedroom painted red.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. Staff supported people to engage in a variety of activities tailored to their interests. This included going shopping, out for a coffee or watching cricket. On the day we visited the service some people went shopping and out for lunch, which they told us they really enjoyed doing, while other people stayed at the service. We saw 1 person watching a film with staff and other people chatting together. We also saw people arranging to go out shopping or to appointments.

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 were aware of people's needs and observed them to provide timely support. Staff responded when people indicated a need for assistance, we observed staff swiftly responded to requests for support during the assessment which evidenced people were not left waiting when they requested support.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff. Systems were in place to promote staff wellbeing. However, feedback from staff indicated these were not effectively implemented. Staff gave us mixed feedback about morale at the service. Staff raised concerns regarding insufficient staffing levels which impacted on their ability to deliver care to people and some staff told us they felt unappreciated in their roles. Staff told us they did not feel listened to when discussing their concerns with the management team. However, other staff said they felt valued and well supported.