Eglantine Villa Care 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 80 (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 staff were kind, friendly and approachable. We observed a number of positive interactions throughout the assessment. However, we did observe a staff member visit a person in their room, the person clearly needed support with continence as there was a very strong odour of faeces. The staff member did not mention it to the person or offer support and left them. This led to a delay in the person receiving care and support and showed that the staff member had not treated them with dignity and respect. This was an isolated incident. Staff had an open, friendly rapport with people and most staff knew people very well. Care provided was person centred, people were treated with respect and were supported to spend their time how the chose. When people became anxious or upset staff responded promptly.

Staff knew people’s personalities and preferences, and were able to ensure people were comfortable and happy. Relatives told us, “Staff really do make a fuss of him, they show they really care for him and check up on him all the time”; “Staff are always friendly, attentive, and caring” and “Staff are kind and caring, respectful of her dignity.” People told us, “I like them all they are nice, friendly, it’s all you can ask for”; “They are all beautiful” and “Staff are kind, they are lovely.”

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 observed staff respecting people’s choices and treating people as individuals. People’s cultural and religious needs were documented in care plans, and people were supported to have visits from religious ministers/clergy if this was their wish. The registered manager told us religious services took place on an ad hoc basis. For example, if people requested a priest visit. Church services took place at Easter and Christmas. The registered manager shared they had offered people regular church services, but the uptake was low. The registered manager said, “The church come for coffee mornings, and the gospel choir come in too.”

We observed pictures and information about a recent St Patricks day event held at the service. The staff had helped people to celebrate and dress up. A person who was of proud Irish descent who had recently passed away was celebrated and remembered at the event. People told us that they were celebrated when it was their birthday, a cake was made, and they were made to feel special. We observed a person having a special afternoon tea in the garden to celebrate their birthday. A relative said, “Staff know dad. They gauge his repeat behaviours and can pick up on when he's not quite right.” Another relative said, “They make sensible suggestions to make mums life more comfortable.”

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 went out with their family. We observed people and their relatives utilising the grounds. There were plenty of places for people to sit in the sun or shade to have private family time together. There was a varied choice of activities available for people. The activities schedule on display showed various events, walking, baking, gardening, singers as well as movie nights. We observed activities staff engaging people in activities, there was lots of laughter, chat and encouragement. For people who chose to stay in their rooms, or did not like to participate in group activities staff told us they made time to go in and chat to people.

People told us they were supported with maintaining contact with their friends and relatives. Comments included, “People can visit me at any time. I speak to my friends on the phone”; “They encourage us to have visitors, and they have family days”; “My family visit me at the home. They can come and go as they want” and “Staff make my daughter a cup of tea. They make them [family] feel welcome.” Staff told us they would try and encourage people to come to the lounge or dining room so that they did not become isolated but respected their choices if they declined. They explained their loved one was in a part of the home which was quite isolated. Other relatives said, “At Halloween they did trick or treating around the home and he was involved in that. He gets visits [from the family] a lot which he enjoys” and “They lay on lots of events such as gardening and cooking.”

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 responding to people’s needs in a timely manner most of the time. At busy times when care staff were supporting people to get up and ready for the day staff attended call bells and listened to what the person wanted. For example, one person pressed their call bell, and a staff member attended the person explained they were now ready to get washed and dressed. The staff member explained they were just supporting another person but would be back with them in approximately 10 minutes. We observed they did go back and provide support when they said they would. A relative told us, “There is always enough staff, if we call (using call bell) they attend.” Staff recognised when people were disorientated and confused and helped people to orientate around the service.

The provider always cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff, and was exceptional at supporting and enabling staff to always deliver person-centred care.Staff received monthly staff newsletters which included key information about; lessons learned, compliments, recognition and reward, training, staff engagement and photos of special staff/people moments. This kept the staff well informed, involved in the running of the service and helped them to feel valued. The provider had a 24/7 mental health helpline which offered free, confidential advice to staff and immediate family who lived at the same address, as well as free unlimited counselling sessions with a qualified professional. The service had a recognition scheme called 'Customer First' which was in place to recognise and reward staff that had gone above and beyond to deliver person-centred, outstanding care. There were nomination cards available around the service for staff, people and relatives to use to make nominations and winners were celebrated and displayed on a board.

We saw that staff had incentives in place such as payday prize wheel and a wellbeing breakfast for staff. Staff told us about the different schemes. We saw some of these advertised around the service. A staff member said, “We have a staff member who prays daily at 4. So, we make sure she is on last break to enable this. When staff are following Ramadan, we don’t rota them on for serving food. We had a cruise around the world theme days and staff were supported to dress in their traditional dress. We have discount vouchers, Bupa sends emails with information, Bupa pays for blue light card. We get discounted gym membership, cycle to work scheme. New health package this year, 30% sick pay now being paid (it used to be just SSP [statutory sick pay].)” Another staff member told us, “There is access to a mental health assessment if feeling unwell. There is a mortgage advisor if you need advice. There are lots of freebies working for Bupa.”

The service provided mental health first aid training to 7 staff members which equipped them with the tools to support themselves, other staff and people living at the service. The registered manager told us, "We recognise that staff may have complex personal issues or battles that they may struggle to cope with whilst at work and we want our team to feel valued, supported and know that it’s ok not to be ok. Having multiple mental health first aiders means that there is always someone available to lend a shoulder to anyone who needs it. This is also beneficial for our residents as well as relatives who can deal with many emotions when a loved one is living in care and they need also need our support."