Anro House

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 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. We observed that staff knew people, and what made them happy and contented. Care plans were detailed and explained how to recognise when someone was happy or unhappy and what activities they liked. Staff were patient and encouraged people to take part in activities and always asked consent before supporting people. For instance, we saw that when a person reported that their radio was not working, staff responded in a kind and supportive way and offered to accompany them to the shop to purchase new batteries. This combined an activity as well as their independence as opposed to just replacing the batteries for them. We saw that people were treated with kindness and humour, such as where a person was laughing with a staff member when they were talking about and trying on a hat.
A staff member when asked about how you would treat someone with dignity and respect told us, “If someone in your family was in care - you treat them how you want your mum or dad wanted to be treated”. Another staff member told us, “Treat people like they are your brother or sister”.
A family member when asked if staff are kind and respectful said, “110% there is respect from all sides.”
 

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.

We saw that staff treated people as individuals, considering any relevant protected equality characteristics. People were encouraged to participate and learn daily life skills at their own pace which supported and promoted independence. Care plans documented people’s differences and encouraged enablement to develop life skills such as managing their personal space, but when they wanted to do it. People’s rooms were personalised and had things that mattered to them. We saw one room with little personalisation and staff told us that person preferred minimal items and so was person centred for them.
A family member said “I think choices are available to them, they can pick what they wear, I have seen them offer options”. Another relative said the service had sought out a specific type of hairdresser to cut their relatives hair which they really appreciated.”
 

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.
Staff where possible, engaged people in making decisions. Staff understood the implications of Mental Capacity and how best interest decisions supported people. One staff member told us “We always try to involve them in what they want and how to ask them. They should have a choice, medicines, food, we will always offer”.
People had access to activities and the local community to promote and support their independence, health and wellbeing. On our inspection we saw that two people had been supported on a day out at a nearby seaside location, which enabled fitness and community engagement. We saw other people had access to other activities at community venues.
People were offered choices in their daily lives and communicated with in ways which met their needs and preferences. They were supported to maintain their personal space, as well as carry out tasks such as preparing meals and doing their laundry. Activities were varied throughout the week and chosen with and for each individual’s preferences. People were engaged in activities such as beach walks, gardening, aquarium visits, film night, pool at the pub.
A relative told us, “Having independence is really important to us, we are being told they go shopping to get ingredients for Sunday dinner, they support with cooking meals, we would definitely like for them to continue with that”.
 

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. We saw that staff knew people very well and were able to identify how they felt. Care plans clearly documented how people expressed emotions and their likes and dislikes. We saw staff took time to communicate with people through different ways such as Makaton (a form of sign language) or personal hand gestures to engage with people and ascertain their immediate needs. We observed that staff were always available to support people when they needed it and engaged kindly with them. Staff engagement with people was warm and friendly and we saw examples where staff encouraged people to do things for themselves with support if they needed it. Staff were aware that people had conditions such as a risk of choking and were able to explain how to minimise risk and how to support someone who did start to choke. The Registered Manager told us, and we saw, that fire drills take place regularly at the service and staffing numbers are sufficient to support people in accordance with their personal evacuation plans. Staff were able to explain what action they would take to support people in the event of a fire.
 

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care.
Both the Area Manager and the Registered Manager knew staff well and had oversight of work hours to ensure that staff did not work excessive hours. The service conducted staff surveys and took action. For instance, staff had expressed dissatisfaction with their pay and as a result, the service had delivered a pay increase. The provider supported services by holding joint service staff functions that enable them to meet in social settings. We saw examples of supporting staff through shift rostering that minimised travel costs. All staff we spoke to were content and proud to work for Anro house. All staff highlighted the family like environment that existed between staff, management and the people who lived there. All staff said they felt able to raise concerns, they would be supported and that the leadership was caring, compassionate and professional.
The Registered Manager expressed that the service, the people and staff were like a family, and this was reflected in what we saw at the inspection.