Maurice House

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

Responsive – this means we looked for evidence that the provider met people’s needs.

At our last assessment we rated this key question Good. At this assessment the rating has remained Good. This meant people’s needs were met through good organisation and delivery.

This service scored 79 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Staff made sure people were at the centre of their care and treatment choices.

People received person-centred care. The service had 2 resident cats who could often be found curled up on people’s beds and one person had their own personal cat living with them in their room. Staff engaged in helping ensure the cats were fed and in the case of the person’s own cat cleaning the litter tray. Another person was supported to attend a coffee morning at the local church once a month. A third told us they chose to remain in their room during the day, but staff took the time to come in and chat to them. A relative told us, “They (staff) make her feel very special. They know little things about her – what she likes and doesn’t like.” Another said, “I feel that they (staff) know him really well.”

The service used an electronic care planning system. Staff told us, “We’ve gone on to electronic care plans and it has been so much better. It’s given us more time to spend with residents.”

People’s care plans contained good information and detail about the person, such as their likes, dislikes and personal background history. For example, one person’s recorded, ‘Ensure [person] has their newspaper delivered to them daily and their glasses on and cleaned’. This was important to the person and part of their daily routine.

Staff told us, “We look at the care plans, it gives us a lot of information and you get a briefing summary on their care plan. When you know little things (about a person), it helps to build trust.”

The registered manager and staff understood the diverse health and care needs of people they supported.

People’s care was individualised to them to help support a person’s wishes and preferences. Staff provided consistent care using a joined up approach through the relationships they had with external health professionals and services. This meant when people needed the input of another service or professional to support them this was arranged promptly by staff. For example, the exercise classes for one person diagnosed with Parkinson’s.

The service had attained the Veteran Friendly Framework status designed for use in residential settings for older people. This helps care providers offer appropriate support for veterans living in care homes across England.

The registered manager supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs.

The registered manager told us they could provide information in pictorial format, on different coloured paper and in different languages when needed. One wall near a downstairs communal area was dedicated to individual pictures of staff and another wall dedicated to pictures of people. Seeing staff photos with names can help people (especially those living with dementia or memory difficulties) recognise who is caring for them and by including pictures of people it showed staff valued people as individuals.

The service had a loop system within the building. This helped improve communication for people with a hearing loss. In addition, big magnifying glasses were provided and where needed extra lighting was arranged for people. Both made it easier for people with visual impairments to read menus, activity schedules or notices. There was also dementia-friendly signage throughout the lodge area of the service.

Staff made it easy for people to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. A relative told us, “All staff including senior staff are approachable and will listen to your concerns.”

Resident and relatives meetings were held where people could raise suggestions, give feedback or discuss concerns. These covered topics such as the laundry, staffing, meals and activities and where people had given feedback, the registered manager promised to follow this up. For example, people had requested more male staff, particular to support male residents with personal care. As such the service had recruited more male staff. One person told us, “You can bring up what you would like to improve. They do listen as at the next meeting they bring up actions from before, the actions and the reasons if they can’t do it.”

People were involved in the running of the home. For example, people sat on interview panels. The registered manager said, “It is always amazing how insightful they (people) are, even those living with a cognitive impairment. We value their input and listen to their opinions before making a final decision.” Activities were planned by asking people and outings planned in line with people’s requests. A person told us, “Activities coordinators always talk to people and design activities based around what people want to do.”

During term time, children from the local nursery visited the service twice a week. After their first visit one person expressed a desire to become involved in supporting the sessions. They took responsibility for preparing the space, setting out activities and arranging snacks and drinks with the kitchen. At the end of each visit, the person read stories or sang songs with the children. This had given the person a renewed sense of purpose and parents have shared with the registered manager the positive impact this person has had on their children.

Relatives were also involved in the running of the service as many of them were volunteers. Either helping with activities or keeping the garden tidy.

The provider did not always make sure that people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it. The service had an adapted vehicle which enabled people to go out on trips. We were told that recently this vehicle was changed for a smaller one so trips could be more person-centred as more staff had the ability to drive it. However, people, staff and relative’s told us that in practice this was not always the case as currently only 1 staff member was able to drive the vehicle and it could only take 1 wheelchair and 4 people which meant opportunities for people to go out regularly had reduced. One person said, “It limits how often you can get to go out. You have to put your name down quickly as only 1 in a wheelchair can go.”

There were positive aspects of staff to ensure equity for people however, as the service had a number of volunteers who assisted with external and internal activities for people. In addition, staff were able to accommodate a married couple in rooms next door to each other enabling them to spend time together but with both receiving the individual care they needed.

Relatives spoke of how staff adapted care for people’s individual needs. One relative told us, “She is picky about her food and they (staff) will change it and make something special for her to encourage her to eat.”

Staff and leaders actively listened to information about people who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes and tailored their care, support and treatment in response to this. For example, the service had 2 dartboards installed at different heights, allowing both people who used wheelchairs and people who were standing to participate in games together. This helped encouraged social interaction, regardless of mobility.

People told us there was a lot going on at the service with one person saying, “If activities are put on for our benefit, I’ll have a go. There is so much going on and I am very happy and lucky because I love quizzes and there is a quiz every morning.”

Prior to organising external outings staff assessed the suitability of the destination for its wheelchair accessibility and people living with dementia were included in external trips to help ensure they had similar experiences.

A large percentage of people living at the service were men and as a result, funds had been raised to open a ‘man’s shed’. The purpose was to give the male residents an environment to carry out male orientated activities. We heard that this ‘shed’ had been constructed around 6 months ago and had hardly been used. However, the registered manager told us of their plans to get this up and running.

In addition, a choir had been established which included people living in all 3 areas of the service – nursing, residential and the lodge – this choir was encouraged to perform at any event held at the service. On one occasion the choir performed at a local church in front of the public with the military wives choir.

Music sessions were held with people where people were supported to ‘write’ songs by suggesting wording which was then put to music by a music therapist. This was adapted according to people’s needs. For example, for those in the nursing and residential areas the words were put to new music and in the lodge they were put to music people were familiar with. By tailoring the music it respected people’s differing needs and preferences.

People were encouraged to suggest places to go based on their interests and this had included one person going to a museum housing the aircraft they worked on when they were in the RAF and another person being taken to the Festival of Remembrance. A further person was supported with the publication of their book of poetry.

People were supported to plan for important life changes, so they could have enough time to make informed decisions about their future, including at the end of their life. One person said, “This is the right place for me. I am here until the day I die.” People’s care plans contained detailed end of life wishes, such as one person who would like gentle music to be played and another who wanted to be able to drink tea for as long as they could.

The service had achieved the Gold Standards Framework (GSF) accreditation for end of life care. GSF is a practical and evidence-based end of life care service improvement programme. A staff member said, “The GSF has made a big difference. There is a much better culture about preparing for end of life care. It doesn’t matter if we disagree with them (people). It’s their wishes.”