Harefield Lodge

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 mostly treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

We received mixed feedback from relatives and professionals. One relative told us, “I observe some of the staff exhibiting a real empathy for my relative but some of them, I don’t think know how to support my relative.” Two relatives told us their relatives were treated with kindness, compassion and dignity. One professional said people had not always been treated with kindness, compassion and dignity, although they felt improvements had been made. Another professional told us, “The care provided appears to be person-centred and respectful. Staff demonstrate kindness and compassion in their interactions and support people to maintain their dignity, independence, and choice.”

We observed some staff interactions with people were task led as opposed to engaging people in general conversation. The registered manager told us they had also noted this.

People could receive visitors when they wanted. When visitors came to the home there were private spaces both inside and outside the home which people could use.

The provider treated people as individuals and made sure people’s 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.

People were able to make choices throughout their day, including what they wanted to wear and eat. We observed staff offering people choice and responding to their wishes throughout the inspection.

The registered manager told us how they involved people in their care planning by observing how they liked to be supported, by listening to feedback from staff and by involving family or key people in the person’s life.

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

Staff were positive in empowering people to be as independent as possible and celebrated this.We observed the mealtime experience for people. People were given a choice of where they would like to eat their meal. There were 2 menu options. If people did not want either choice on the menu, there were other alternative options. This meant people had independence, choice and control and their choices were respected.

Staff told us they involved people in decisions where they could and gave them at least 2 options to choose from. Staff told us people had the right to refuse, and they would respect their wishes. Staff communicated with people in the way they preferred.

People’s daily notes reflected they were supported to maintain their independence, were offered choices, and their refusals were respected.

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 positively to several people who were at different times in a heightened state of anxiety. It was clear staff knew people well and responded to their immediate needs with kindness and compassion. We also observed staff knowing when to give a person space to enable them to reduce their anxiety.

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

Staff members told us the home was a good place to work. A staff member told us, “I have seen first-hand that Voyage Care are very active with career development opportunities for staff.”

Team meetings were held to discuss issues relevant to the service or staff experience.

We reviewed surveys for relatives and staff. We reviewed actions from the staff survey which provided evidence the survey had driven improvement.