Sholden Hall Residential Home

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.

Relatives told us people were treated well and staff were kind. Comments included, “They are very caring and always very welcoming” and “They are very kind and respectful people”. We observed staff talking calmly and reassuring people when they were taking part in activities or walking around the service. For example, when a person became anxious about their family, staff spoke to them calmly and helped them check their phone. They talked to them about what day it was and what their relative would be doing. When the person forgot and asked staff the same question again, they remained kind and went through the process again.

Relatives told us, staff treated people with respect and maintained their dignity. We observed staff supporting people to maintain their dignity when they were going into or coming out of the bathroom. Staff spoke to people in a respectful way and responded to staff warmly.

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’s care plans had been reviewed and now included details about their choices and preferences. Staff knew how people wanted to be supported and their characteristics which affected how they responded to care delivery. Staff understood how to adapt support to the person’s personality, we observed staff approach people in different ways when offering lunch or activities.

People’s care plans included information about people’s protected characteristics such their religious or cultural needs. Relatives we spoke with felt their family did not follow a religion, but included a comment, “They are not religious, but they enjoy it when they go in with their tambourines”. The service had regular visits and religious services from the local church who spent time with people chatting and completing activities.

Relatives described how people’s preferences were met, “They do have a choice, but they are a finicky eater, for example they will eat shepherd’s pie but not if it has onions in it so they make a point of not putting onions in theirs! They make a point of giving them what they like.”

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.Some people had been anxious and kept trying to find a way out of the service. Staff had identified the person had been bored and wanted to be occupied. Staff supported the person to be involved in laying the tables before meals and folding laundry. The manager had supported the person to go with them into the kitchen to wash up, and wash and sweep the floor. The person had really enjoyed helping and was more settled.

Relatives told us staff promoted their relative to do things for themselves, “They do need prompting, which is what they do. They prompt more than do things for them so they will wait to be told what to do. Left to their own devices they wouldn’t think about doing anything”.

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 observed staff recognising when people were becoming anxious or upset. Staff supported them with what they wanted to do such go to the bathroom or their room. Staff described how they supported people when they became agitated and what might trigger behaviour or cause them distress. People’s care plans had detailed guidance for staff about how to support them.

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

Staff told us they felt supported by the new manager and most staff had received supervision to discuss their interests and strengths. Staff had identified areas of interest such as care plans or medicines. The manager had given them responsibility for these areas. Staff told us they felt trusted and had enjoyed having the responsibility. The manager told us they believed staff having responsibility for areas and being keyworkers would help to drive improvements.