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

In general, 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.

Improvement was required relating to staff engagement with people on one unit in the home. For example, staff did not attend to someone who said they were not feeling very well.

However, we also observed staff speak kindly with people and treating them with compassion.

One person told us “I have great trust for carers, they know me well and they are working very hard. We are all different and need a different approach but somehow it works out well.”

Another person told us “I feel whatever problems I have I can always talk to carers and they will help …small things matter now more than ever…”

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

One relative told us, “All staff know [family member] well, there is a carer who speaks [person’s first language] with them – we don’t know how much [family member] can understand but [carers] try to talk to them as much as possible.”

To accommodate people’s religious and cultural needs there were religious leaders that regularly visited the home.

We observed staff offering people choices, being kind, patient and respectful. For example, offering multiple drinks options and checking people were happy and comfortable.

We saw details in care plans about people’s religious and cultural needs and useful communication plans. Care records also stated when family were informed of any updates or concerns.

As noted in this report some care plans and risk assessments were not person centred and contained generic statements throughout. Some lacked details about people’s preferences for example, their favourite food. The provider shared plans underway to address this.

Daily notes were task orientated lacking evidence of activities, discussions, wellbeing, choices or how staff provided comfort and reassurance. The provider had started addressing this and was monitoring progress in this area in their service improvement plan.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

One person told us, “I feel free to go to bed any time, but staff know I like to get up early, so I am probably first they help.”

Another person told us, “Today I was up early and came downstairs for breakfast early, but I can get up any time I like”.

One relative told us, “We explained that it is important [family member] stays independent as possible, that is exactly what carers are trying to do.”

Leaders were focussed on improving activities for people and had put in place additional support for activities staff, gathered feedback from people following activities and were in the process of gathering information from people about their life stories.

The provider listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes.

One person told us, “Staff are very helpful to me, and they look after all of us well. I think it’s a very good place to be when you need help.”

During the site visits call bells were answered promptly. People were offered regular drinks, and staff identified when people needed support for example, to be seated more comfortably.

Signs were on people’s doors with symbols for staff to quickly identify their food consistency level and fire evacuation requirements.

One relative told us, “It is a well-run home; I see it every day that help and support is always there. Even for people who cannot speak for themselves like my relative, there is compassion and understanding from every person who is working here.”

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

Staff enjoyed their job roles and told us they felt well supported by the management team. One staff member told us “I get support for improving and doing well. I am a senior and I do more learning to go forward in my job.”

Staff had the opportunity to discuss their job roles during one-to-one meetings with managers.

All staff told us they would be happy for their own relatives to live in the service.