Lansdowne Road (67-71)

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 rated inspection (publication date 23 October 2023) we rated this key question Good. At this inspection 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 75 (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 always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

Relatives were positive about the approach of staff. All relatives agreed that staff treated their family member with dignity and respect. A relative said, “A good example of staff caring is [name] is really interested in trains and all that goes with that, and they have really personalised their bedroom to look like a train, which they really like.” Another relative said, “I have no issues with [name] care, the staff are all brilliant, nothing in my view can be done any better.”

Staff spoke professionally and politely about the people they supported. A staff member described how they maintained a person’s dignity during a period of increased anxiety whereby they took their clothes off. They said, “It’s important to maintain their dignity and we use a towel or a dignity screen.”

People’s daily records were well detailed by staff. This included a respectful and professional reflection on the person’s health and wellbeing needs and activities they had participated in.

We observed staff to be polite, caring and respectful towards people in their care. People appeared relaxed within the company of their care staff and there was a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. There were much laughter and appropriate jovial exchanges.

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.

People spoke highly of the staff and were confident they knew and understood their individual care and support needs and what is important to them. A person said, “Staff are very friendly, and they really do understand me and my needs.”

Relatives agreed that staff understood their family member. A relative said, “Overall I am very happy with everything that the home provides, staff know [name] well and do everything they possibly can to accommodate their needs and requirements.”

People’s support plans detailed important information about their history, routines, preferences including information about any protected characterisers. This information supported staff to provide individual and personalised care. People’s daily care records detailed the care and support provided and records confirmed people were supported in line with their support plans.

Our observations of staff engagement with people were positive. Interactions by staff were personalised, they altered their approach according to the person they were communicating with. From people’s response it showed how well staff knew and understood their individual needs.

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

Staff demonstrated a positive, person-centred approach to promoting people’s independence, choice, and control. Some individuals attended vocational college courses, where learning opportunities helped them develop new skills and expand their friendship groups. Some people enjoyed cooking, and staff supported them to plan and cook their own meals. Some people were also supported with domestic tasks such as cleaning their own bedroom and doing their own laundry. Examples were also given how people were supported to vote in the general election, ensuring their rights and choices were respected.

During the inspection, we observed that people were supported to attend college. On returning from college, one person proudly showed us their certificate of achievement, which they had been presented with.

Staff, people, and records confirmed that individual activity planners had been developed with people based on their choices, interests, and hobbies. A new initiative had recently been introduced, supporting people to identify personal goals and aspirations they wanted to achieve. This approach benefited individuals who valued structure and purpose and empowered them to have greater choice and control.

People confirmed staff respected their personal choices and daily routines. Two people told us how staff respected their morning and evening routines and choices. They said, “We get up and go to bed when we want to.”

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 told us they felt valued and listened to. A person said, “I raised a concern about the noise level, I spoke to [name – registered manager] and they listened and tried to sort the issue out.”

People had access to a public phone. We observed how a person requested the support of a staff member to make a phone call using a number they had. The staff member supported them but there was no reply. The staff member reassured the person they would support them later to try again.

We observed some staff were attentive, supportive and responsive to people’s individual needs. We saw examples how staff were able to easily pick up on people’s emotional, and wellbeing needs and provide distraction, support and reassurance. However, we did observe that some staff were more engaging with people than others. We shared this with the management team who agreed to follow this up. We were aware recent improvements had been made to activities and this was ongoing.

We also observed how people went to speak with the managers who welcomed them into the office. The managers were also responsive and attentive to people’s individual needs.

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

The provider’s recruitment procedures confirmed staff were asked to disclose any health and wellbeing concerns or needs that required any work-related reasonable adjustments. Staff had opportunities to discuss their work, training and development needs.

Staff were positive about working for the provider and the support they received from the management team. They raised no concerns about their safety and gave examples of reasonable adjustments being made to support their health and well-being needs. A staff member said, “I have a risk assessment and reasonable adjustments in place. The management team have been really helpful.”

Staff were positive about the training and support they received, they advised that this was good and enabled them to provide safe and effective care.

The management team told us they had an open-door policy and how they valued the staff team and recognised the importance of having a caring and supportive approach. This included reviewing the staff rota to ensure staff did not work excessive hours. The registered manager was also a trained work mental health first aider and staff told us how supportive the registered manager was with their own mental health and wellbeing.

The provider recognised staff’s contribution by having an employee of the month award. A staff member told us how they had nominated the registered manager for this award. They said, “The managers are lovely, [name] is the best manager I've ever had they are supportive, very good and does everything they can for the service users and staff. When it's the staff's birthday they buy chocolates.”