Brandon Trust - 261 Passage Road 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 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 treated as individuals and their privacy and dignity were respected. People moved freely around their home. They could access their bedrooms when they wanted to with no restrictions imposed on them. From our observations people were at ease with the staff that were supporting them. Staff spoke about people showing knowledge of each person’s preferences and interests. It was evident they knew people well and had built positive relationships.

The atmosphere within the home was calm and relaxed with lots of positive interactions between people and staff. Staff took the time to spend time with people talking about things they were interested in.

Feedback from relatives was extremely positive about the staff. Comments included, “We could not wish for a more wonderful home. The staff are especially good at knowing (name of person) so well, even though some are new”, and “The staff are very knowledgeable, and I think they are amazing”.

A visiting professional told us, “I saw through their interactions with (name of person) that she was treated with kindness and compassion”.They said, “The service had good psychological insight into people’s emotional well-being and took time and care to understand and respond to this with compassion”.

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 included information about their life history, interests and daily routines. People had their own possessions, photographs, and personal items in their bedrooms. These had been decorated in people’s favourite colours and reflected the person’s personality. A relative told us, “Everyone who works at Passage Road are wonderful and caring, tailoring their approach to each person’s individual’s needs”.

People's hobbies and interests were supported. One staff member told us, “We are continually exploring how we can support people with activities they enjoy”. People were being supported to attend a new social group where they were able to share interests in music. One of the people had been supported to a multi-sensory theatre group that was run specifically for people with a learning disability. Staff described how this was a positive experience for the person as it was interactive and very visual.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

People were encouraged to have regular opportunities to discuss whether they were happy with their support at the service. People were encouraged and supported to make choices about the weekly menu. Picture cards were used to support people with these decisions.

Care plans clearly described what a person could do and where they needed support. Staff encouraged people to be as independent as possible and involved them in their care and support. One of the people enjoyed helping in the kitchen and would empty the dish washer and help with meal preparations and assist with doing their laundry. Staff had been proactive in supporting a person to make their own drinks independently. To help them small, measured pots of coffee had been put in place to enable them to make their hot drinks independently.

Individuals were supported to maintain meaningful relationships with family members and friends. They were also encouraged and enabled to access opportunities within their local community, including attendance at social groups. One individual attended a day centre, where they were able to socialise with peers and participate in a range of structured activities.

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. Staff spent time with people engaged in conversations. People were supported with activities, one person had been supported to go for a walk, another person shopping and one person chose to spend time in their bedroom until late morning then joined the other people in the lounge area.

People were supported by staff who knew them well and understood when they were anxious or showing signs of distress. Staff spoke positively about the journey one person had been on and how settled they were now. They said this was because staff were consistent and strategies had been put in place and reviewed to ensure it was meeting the person’s individual needs. The provider had a positive behaviour support team that supported staff in devising very individualised plans which detailed any triggers and strategies to support people in a person-centred way.

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

Staff described a team that was supportive of each other. A member of staff told us, “Whenever I need supportwith something, there is always someone available to answer any questions oradviseme”.

Staff had access to resources that supported their well-being including confidential counselling services if they needed it and regular one to one with their line manager. This enabled them to discuss their wellbeing and where needed make adjustments to their roles or working environment. In addition, regular team meetings were taking place to ensure the team were supported and listened to. A member of staff told us, “We can seek support from Brandon trust through the staff portal for things such as mental and physical wellbeing support as well as financial support”.

The provider had effective systems and processes to support staff development. Staff confirmed they received regular training to enable them to carry out their roles effectively. The newly appointed team leader advised that they were being supported to undertake training relevant to their role. This included developing their knowledge of the electronic care planning system, as well as receiving training to support them in conducting interviews for new staff and developing their skills in supervising and supporting staff through regular supervision sessions.

Staff confirmed there was an on-call system when the registered manager was not available.