Beech Lodge - Mablethorpe

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. People were free to have visitors when they chose to or to go and visit others in their homes.

Care plans did not always use positive language. Terms such as PWS (People we Support), behaviours of concern, challenging behaviours, physically attacked and toileting were still used. This increased the risk that people would not be valued or respected. We discussed this with the registered manager and provider for their review. Despite this we found staff showed respect towards people and relationships promoted equality. We observed positive interactions between people and staff and there were obvious positive relationships in place. One person said, “Everyone is friendly at Beech Lodge, staff and residents.”

Feedback from people and relatives was positive, they felt they were treated with kindness and respected. Relatives’ told us staff were, “Brilliant.” A relative said, “[Staff] always appear very good with my [family member]. My [family member] doesn’t have a bad word against them.” Another relative told us, “I’m always impressed with [staffs] patience. They always show a happy countenance for the most part and always on my [family member’s] side. My [family member] is not being seen as a weight to be carried but that [staff] enjoy [their job].’’

The provider treated people as individuals. Staff made sure care, support and treatment met each person’s needs and preferences. They considered people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture, backgrounds and protected characteristics.

Staff worked hard to make sure people were well cared for. They supported people with their emotional wellbeing as well as their daily needs. People were encouraged to get involved in tasks around the home and to do as much as they could for themselves. Staff supported people to be independent where possible.

People were helped to maintain friendships. One person told us, “I have friends within Linkage and others outside but tend to just have chats with the outside ones.” Relatives told us people’s personal beliefs were also respected. One relative said their family member attended church regularly.

The provider promoted people’s independence. People were supported to know their rights and to have choice and control over their care, treatment and wellbeing. People were encouraged to access the community and keep relationships with friends and family. They had a wide range of opportunities such as shopping, cinema, meeting friends, planning holidays in the UK and abroad, local pubs, swimming, bowling, gym, meals out, day trips, museums, discos and parties. One person told us, “I go on the bus to Skegness, Louth, Lincoln and Boston, I like getting hot chocolate with cream and marsh mallows.”

Staff helped people seek jobs if they wished. One person held a voluntary job and others were planning to move to more independent living in the future. Relatives told us staff listened to people and respected their choices. At home people were involved in crafting, laundry, cooking and gardening. Staff researched new events and activities people might enjoy.

People were supported using active support methods both in the home and the community. Active support methods are approaches that help people take part in everyday tasks by giving the right level of support so they can build skills, confidence and independence.

The provider listened to people and understood their needs, views and wishes. Staff responded straight away to any changes and acted to minimise discomfort, concern or distress. Staff recognised when people were upset or feeling low. They checked what the cause might be and offered support. Staff also sought medical advice in an emergency and acted quickly to keep people safe.

Relatives told us staff responded well in urgent situations. One relative said, “[Staff] will always ring me or call the emergency number. They are on the ball usually.” Another relative said, “Recently my [family member] did have [an accident] and the [staff] responded brilliantly, they kept us informed of my [family member’s] illnesses and any check-ups and there was a lot of follow up.”

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. Team communication also supported person centred care. Staff shared updates so everyone understood people’s needs and preferences. This meant care was delivered consistently and in line with what mattered to each person.

The provider had wellbeing initiatives in place such as free confidential counselling lines. Staff knew they were able to talk to any of the management team if they needed to. Some staff felt they were not given positive praise for the work they did and felt this would help to motivate and make them feel more valued, but most staff felt well supported and were happy working at the service.