Heathlands Care Centre

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 65 (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 told us they felt staff were caring and respectful in their approach. One person told us, “All the men and women [staff members] here are great; they are fantastic, understanding, and look after you.” A relative told us, “All the staff who are here now have stayed because they want to be here. Nothing is too much trouble for them.” We observed staff supported people in a gentle and encouraging way, offering choices and involving people in day-to-day decisions.

People’s privacy and dignity were respected. Staff were seen knocking on doors and announcing themselves before entering people’s rooms. Doors were kept closed during personal care, and staff were able to explain the steps they took to ensure people felt comfortable when being supported.

The provider treated people as individuals and ensured their care, support, and treatment met their needs and preferences. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture, and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

Changes had been made to the routines of the home, which meant people’s support could be provided in a more flexible way. People could choose when to go to bed and when to receive care in the mornings. Where people chose not to eat their main meal, staff were flexible and offered alternatives throughout the afternoon. Care records contained information regarding the gender of staff people preferred to support them, and records confirmed this was respected. Information about people’s life history, hobbies, and family members was recorded in their care records. However, when we spoke with staff, they were not always fully aware of this information. The manager told us they were involving staff more in the care planning process to ensure they developed a holistic view of the person’s life and needs.

The provider promoted people’s independence and control although there were times when some people did not receive the same level of interaction as others. We observed staff had time to sit and chat with people or take an interest in what they were doing. However, we noted staff would often spend time with people who were able to communicate verbally or showed their appreciation of having staff nearby. This meant some people were left for long periods with little interaction or conversation.

There was a whole home approach to developing activities which people enjoyed. In addition to the activities team, we observed staff from different departments taking part in activities and arranging special events for people. The activities team were enthusiastic in their roles and were spending time getting to know people’s interests and developing different sessions in line with these. Examples observed included supporting one person to watch a comedy programme from their younger days in their first language, playing a particular board game, which one person enjoyed and sourcing equipment for a room where people could have a drink and play pool. Support was also offered to people who preferred to spend time in their rooms to minimise the risk of them feeling isolated.

People’s needs, views and wishes were known and understood by staff. In the majority of situations, staff responded to people’s needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. However, we noted on some occasions staff did not offer reassurance and support to people promptly because they were concentrating on other tasks. We observed one person repeatedly coughing loudly. Staff nearest to the person did not respond for some time until prompted by a staff member supporting another person. On another occasion, we observed a person struggling with their lunch and not eating. Staff were not vigilant to the person’s needs and took time to offer assistance.

On other occasions, we observed that staff responded to people’s needs promptly and tried to find solutions for any concerns they may have. In addition, staff spent time speaking with people prior to offering personal care. This helped to reassure and build trust with people and helped to reduce incidents of distressed behaviour at these times.

The manager 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 looked after by the manager and enjoyed being part of a team. One staff member told us they felt the care people received had greatly improved, “I would say that’s because of the training and support we have had, so we are now able to do it better. Everyone [staff] interacts a lot more and moving and handling have been improved. I am very proud of the improvements and feel residents are happier now.”

The manager told us they spent much of their day supporting people and staff. We observed that they provided direction to staff regarding small details they should be aware of and modelled the approach they wished staff to adopt.