Abbott House - Oundle

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 70 (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 treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion some improvement was required to ensuring people’s privacy.

There were not enough staff to constantly monitor people that were going into other people’s rooms so this impacted on people’s privacy. A family member told us, “Some people wander in, pick things up and go out relative presses their buzzer and staff get the things back. It’s just disturbing for [relative]. The provider was aware that this was distressing for some people and was actively working with the local authority and other healthcare professionals to move people to a more suitable environment. This was actioned by the provider by the end of the assessment process. A system to prevent this impacting on people’s privacy in the future would need to be considered and embedded in practice.

People could choose if they preferred their door open or closed and could lock their door if they wished, some rooms had signs outside that instructed staff on the preferred option to ensure people wishes were respected. A person said, “I like to have my door closed during the day, as you can see from the sign, they’ll always knock first before peeping to ask if they can come in”.

We observed that staff treated people with kindness, shared smiles, laughter, and used appropriate touch to comfort people in distress. People told us staff were kind and caring. A relative told us, “They (staff) dress [relative] in a shirt now in the day at their request, even though [relative] is in bed”. A person told us, “Lovely, lovely carers and domestics, they’re more than carers, they’re friends”. Another person said, “They’re very good to all of us”.

The provider treated people as individuals They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

We saw evidence and observed where people were treated as individuals. People’s individual hobbies and preferences were supported as much as possible. For example, people went out with family to activities of their choice., Gardening and growing vegetables was available where people had previously enjoyed a private garden. We saw people were supported with their faith and for one person volunteering for their local church. Religious festivals and holidays were well supported and reflected the needs of the people in the home.

Some people could and were accessing the gardens independently as it had been designed to be wheelchair accessible. One person told us, “I often go out and wheel around the gardens for a breath of fresh air”.

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

One person was supported to complete tasks in the home that aligned with their previous occupation, this gave them much pleasure and stability in their daily routine.

Where people lacked capacity in some decision making they were supported to make other decisions to give them choice and control. For example, where to spend their time, choose their clothes to wear, choose their own meals and snacks and eat independently.

Some people had specific food preferences that the kitchen were happy to accommodate, and they worked with the activities coordinator to ensure everyone could be included in planned events such as cheese and wine evenings. One person told us, “They prepare my food so I can eat it one handed and I’ve got a special fork.”

Staff responded to people’s needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress.

Staff knew people well, knew what they needed and how to support and comfort them during times of distress. One staff member told us about a person’s body language and how they presented when they required support with personal care. This meant they could be supported promptly. We observed how staff deescalated situations to avoid incidents as much as possible.

A staff member said, “They (the provider) have 2 support workers upstairs and 1 support worker downstairs with a Team Leader (during the evening and night shift), when the Team Leader is giving medicines it would just be 1 staff member downstairs. This can mean people have to wait during busy periods. A person told us about the call bell response times, they said, “It can be quick or can be 20 minutes and is worse at night” We observed call bells to be answered promptly during the assessment, call bell records did not evidence that people waited for an excessive amount of time and staff understood to prioritize people based on their level of need. For example, emergency calls would take priority. A person told us of their emergency experience, “I can walk by myself but I had a fall”, “I pulled the (emergency) cord and they came and helped me up”.

The provider cared about the wellbeing of their staff and took action where needed to release pressure on staff.

The provider completed staff surveys which had produced positive results.

One staff member told us, “Staffing has been an issue, now that we have agency staff to help cover shifts it’s helping”. We observed agency staff were called in to support staff during periods of sickness and holidays as much as possible as per the providers policy and procedure. A staff told us about their personal experience of how their health and wellbeing had been positively supported. Staff received regular supervision and appraisal, records evidenced that praise and recognition was shared with staff and support including additional training was given where needed.

There were a number of initiatives in place for staff including a refer a friend bonus, suggestion schemes and tax-free profit bonus’s. There was an employee assistance program that offered benefits such as a digital wellbeing application, counselling and legal and financial advice.