Barlavington Manor

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.

People told us they experienced respectful and dignified care. They said staff treated them with kindness, empathy, and compassion. We observed people living with dementia were not always treated with dignity. For example, everyone living with dementia used brightly coloured plastic plates and beakers for meals and drinks. Staff said this was ‘in case they dropped them.’ Consideration had not been given to people’s individual circumstances or preferences.

We observed staff knew people well and spoke warmly about the people they were supporting. Relatives described staff as, “Amazing” and “Very kind and caring.” Comments included, “Staff have been kind to [name] and that’s reassuring.” And “Staff are very good to [name], they treat her with respect and dignity.” A visiting health care professional told us staff treated people with dignity and compassion.

The provider treated people as individuals. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, backgrounds, and protected characteristics and used this information to inform care planning and delivery.

We saw people were able to make choices and decisions throughout the day. People’s bedrooms were personalised and contained items and furniture from their home. People were able to take part in activities they enjoyed including those held in the local community. A person told us they particularly liked having a garden accessible from their bedroom. They said, “It makes me so happy having a garden area, I like to have plants outside my door.” People living with dementia had one-page profiles next to their bedroom doors. These captured the essence of the person prior to their diagnosis and care needs and provided prompts for conversations and memories.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their care and wellbeing. Staff supported people in a way that encouraged their independence including with aspects of their personal care, medicines, and communication. People living with dementia had their bedroom doors brightly painted and resembled a front door. This assisted people to identify their own bedroom. A person told us. “Whilst I am not happy living in a care home, I feel I am able to be in charge of what I do.” We saw people were able to make choices and decisions throughout the day and had access equipment and mobility aids to support their independence. People were able to receive visitors when they wanted and had access to technology and Wi-Fi systems to aid their communication and independence.

People did not always experience a positive response to their immediate needs and wishes. We observed two occasions when the actions of staff led people to experience heightened confusion and avoidable distress. Both incidents occurred at lunch time in different parts of the building and with different staff. For example, a person asking for potatoes was given 4 different responses by 4 different staff, including one staff promising to get some and never returning. The person became quite upset saying, “Please will staff stop keep coming to me and giving me different messages and suggesting I am making an issue.” The registered manager told us they would act to improve people’s lunch time experiences and staff actions.

We observed other staff responding appropriately to residents needs when requests were made. People told us they experienced a good response when using call bells and our observations supported this. A relative told us, “Staff always answer [name] call bell I have no worries.” A person told us, “I am settled and happy here and I get what I need and when I need it.”

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff. Staff felt supported by the registered manager and provider. A lot of staff including the registered manager had worked at the service for many years. They told us it was a good place to work with good support systems. A staff member said, “I love it here.” Processes were in place to support staff, and staff told us they felt valued. The providers grievance procedure enabled staff to raise concerns formally and appropriately. Staff knew about this policy and felt confident to use it. There was a supervision policy which centred on open dialogue between the staff member and their supervisor. Supervision also offered the opportunity for personal development and learning.