Archived: Chestnuts - Bognor Regis

Our observations of staff practice showed that people were receiving effective, safe and appropriate care, which was designed to meet their specific needs. We saw that people felt comfortable in approaching staff and asking for assistance. People were relaxed and content in their surroundings. Staff engaged positively with people using the service to encourage them to communicate their consent, wishes and choices.

Six people we spoke with told us that they were happy with the care and support they received. One person told us, 'I am happy living here, this one is the best.' Another person said, 'I like it here and staff are nice.'

People told us that staff treated them with respect and promoted their privacy. They told us they felt they would be listened to if they raised any concerns. One person's told us that staff supported them to attend a motoring festival and train spotting as this was their hobby.

We saw one person who came back from a social club known as the " boy's club" and was talking about their experience and looked happy. Another person came back from a weekend visit with family and proudly showed us the knitted rug that she had been making.

We saw the home displayed information about shopping rota, house meetings, social club meetings, complaints procedures and activity list in an easy read format.

Appropriate checks and procedures were in place to make sure that all staff were safe to work with vulnerable people.

We also spoke with the manager and two care staff.

We saw people being addressed in a respectful manner. We looked at people's individual support plans and observed that these were discussed with people who lived at the home. These discussions were documented.

We saw that regular audits of the service were completed by the provider. This ensured that people who lived at the home benefitted from a service that monitored the quality of care that people received.

Information about the service and available activities was displayed around the home. This was available in both written and picture format to help people make choices. We saw photographic displays of day trips and activities featuring the people who live at the home.

Two of the people who lived at the home asked to show us their rooms. We saw that the rooms we looked at were personalised with people's own property and possessions.