Ashton Lodge of Sunbury-on-Thames

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 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 and their relatives told us staff treated them with kindness and knew their preferences. One person told us, “They (carers) are very good at what they do here.” We observed staff treating people in a kind and caring way which respected their privacy, such as when offering to support people to use the toilet. Staff understood their role in maintaining people’s dignity. One member of staff told us, “We understand the residents. They want to be treated well, and we always treat them professional.”

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 and their relatives told us staff treated them as individuals and that their cultural, spiritual and religious needs were met. One relative told us, “If I wasn’t happy with any aspect of Ashton Lodge and the care they provide [person] wouldn’t be here.”

Staff took the time to get to know people and ensured their protected characteristics and unique backgrounds were taken into account. Care records included information in relation to people’s lives and how to effectively support them to continue undertaking things which were important to them. For example, we saw people were supported by staff to visit their local place of worship and staff worked well with partners to ensure people were able to access them.

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

People and their relatives told us staff promoted their independence and empowered them to be involved in as many decisions as possible. Where staff were provided with information from healthcare professionals to help people maintain their independence, such as the physiotherapist, staff followed the directions in line with the professional’s instructions to ensure the person was able to maintain their level of mobility.

Staff ensured people were able to maintain their independence by ensuring information relating to day-to-day decisions was available in a format they understood. This meant people were able to make informed decisions in relation to their care. For example, staff were provided with a list of translations to use with a person who was no longer able to speak in English and reverted to their first language.

Where a person wanted to join a local place of worship, the person told us they were supported by staff to undertake this regularly, “I went and investigated and said we should be able to go to [place of worship]. They said, we have the vehicle, you organise it and we will support you. It is good for me to go to [place of worship]. I am now a regular.” Other activities were available daily and there was a timetable which was shared with people so they knew in advance which activities they wanted to participate in.

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.

People and their relatives told us staff listened to and understood their needs. One person told us, “[Staff] are all careful”. A relative commented, “The carers are always checking on [person]. They come in and draw the curtains across if the sun is getting into his eyes.”

People’s care records clearly highlighted people’s needs, views and wishes and we observed staff recognising where a person appeared uncomfortable in their chair. Staff communicated with the person and ensured the person was fully involved in any decisions before physically assisting them.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff, and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. The provider supported staff with their wellbeing by giving staff the option of additional check-ins, flexible rest breaks and reducing prolonged standing, for example. Staff told us they felt enabled to perform in their role and that their workloads were manageable. One member of staff told us, “Yes, we do [feel supported] and we can speak up and make suggestions. They listen to us.”