Wood Cottage

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 the provider involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. This is the first assessment for this registered service. This key question has been rated 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.

Feedback from relatives was positive about the caring nature of staff. We observed warm and friendly interactions between people and all groups of staff. Staff were attentive and supportive, and we saw mutual respectful banter between people and staff. The atmosphere was inclusive, and friends and visitors were welcomed. Staff spoke warmly about people and their role. Comments included, “Every day we try and make it a better place for the people we support” and “It is nice to see people smiling. It is amazing.”

Interactions between staff and people supported wellbeing, independence, and a strong sense of dignity. One relative commented, “They are all mates and get on like they work together.”

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 were supported by a core staff team to live as individuals. This was embedded in all areas of the service. People were empowered to choose meaningful activities which mattered to them. Staff told us about a range of holidays and community experiences they had recently enjoyed. For example, 1 person was planning a holiday, supported by staff from the home who knew them well. Staff showed us a collection of photographs from recent activities they had enjoyed, both individually and with their housemates. This included day trips, and outings to restaurants and parks and activities in the home and garden. The management team were collating memory books for people to capture experiences, activities and promoting independence for each person.

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

People’s rights and independence were promoted, and this was reflected in feedback, our observations and people’s care records, activities of interest and daily logs with learning logs for staff to support more choice and control for people. Staff spoke warmly about people and told us about examples where they promoted their independence and encouraged people to make choices. Comments included, “People will decide how they want to spend their day.” Relatives told us about examples of how their loved ones had increased their independence. Comments included, “[Person] has grown in confidence, and their independence has been respected so much, we are seeing positive changes.”

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.

Staff responded to people’s needs in the moment and any changes they required in their support. We observed interactions between staff and people and saw these relationships were compassionate and respectful, enabling staff to meet people’s needs quickly and in ways which reduced people’s potential distress.

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

Staff told us they felt valued, and their health and wellbeing were actively promoted. They received good support from the provider and the registered and service manager. They told us they felt encouraged to participate in additional training and learning opportunities. Consideration was given to people’s learning styles and any reasonable adjustments they required.