Linwood

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 Requires Improvement. At this assessment the rating has changed to 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.

Staff treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

People were happy living at Linwood. Comments we received included, “Very happy living here, staff are very kind”, “The staff are kind”, “Everyone is very polite around here and I love them all” and “I love it here.”

Relatives were also equally happy with how their family member was cared for, with 1 telling us, “Everything is great and they do a good job.”

Staff displayed a respectful approach towards people as we observed them knocking on people’s doors and waiting for them to respond before entering.

A healthcare professional told us, “Everyone is always very friendly. It’s so much better now.”

Staff treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences.

We received positive feedback from relatives. One told us, “Staff treat him like an individual. They know what he likes. For example, he doesn’t always like joining in on activities, but they still ask him because if it’s a singer then they know he’ll enjoy it.” Another fed back to us, “Staff respect her autonomy while still offering 1:1 interaction and activity lists to prevent social isolation.”

We found people’s individual wishes were respected. For example, 1 person liked to have their meal in their room with a coffee and staff knew this without the person having to ask. Another person only wished female care staff to provide their personal care and a review of their daily care notes confirmed this was happening.

We found people’s rooms were personalised with photos, ornaments and some of their own furniture.

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

People were supported to retain their independence. Some people attended external activities and others went out with friends and family shopping or to the local community. In addition, where people were able to carry out their own personal care, staff recognised this and let them take the lead. One person told us, “I am very independent and do everything myself.” Another said, “I can do most things myself. They get me up and the rest I can do myself. I can walk with a frame.”

People were encouraged to make their own choices. This included how they spent their time during the day, whether they participated in activities, what they chose to eat and when they got up or went to bed. This created a less institutionalised, regimented service where people could be themselves.

Staff 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 attentive to people’s needs. One person was heard telling a staff member their back hurt. The staff member spoke with the person and said they would speak with a team leader about providing them with some pain relief. Another person told us, “I use my call bell and they (staff) always take time to come and see me.”

We observed 1 person becoming distressed and a staff member took time to talk to them, reassure them and offer them comfort.

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

Staff were supported through supervisions, giving them the opportunity to speak with their immediate line manager on a 1:1 basis about work, training requirements or concerns. In addition, the registered manager recognised the hard work of their staff team and had arranged pamper sessions for them during ‘National Spa Week.’ This enabled all staff to have a free session to support their wellbeing. Staff told us the registered manager and colleagues supported their wellbeing. They said, “Everyone helps and supports each other”, “[Registered manager] is a good manager. Sometimes she will come and say, ‘come and have a chat’” and “[Registered manager] has a heart and cares about the staff.”