Marlfield Care Home With Nursing

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 and relatives described staff as kind and caring. Feedback included, “I’m well looked after” and “I like all the carers”. They are all kind and gentle.” A relative said, “The staff are friendly and I’m always offered a cup of tea when I arrive or encouraged to help myself to drinks.” We observed many friendly and positive interactions between staff and people. Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity and did not rush their care.

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.

Staff identified people's preferences and needs across their protected characteristics, including age, disability and religion as part of their initial assessment and care planning. As well as their care needs related to their gender identity, cultural, communication and dietary requirements. People also had, 'All about me' records which were readily accessible and provided staff with essential information about each person. This enabled staff to tailor people’s care around their needs. A relative confirmed their loved one’s preference about only being supported by female staff was respected and another person told us they always had access to religious services.

Staff had written guidance about people's communication needs and how these were to be met, including where people communicated non-verbally, or used technology to aid their communication. We saw staff were instructed to always ensure a person’s electronic devices which they used to communicate with, were charged.

However, we saw whilst some people's bedrooms were personalised, others were not. The registered manager told us they plan this will be discussed with people and their families, as part of their monthly review.

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 supported to make and maintain relationships which were important to them. Where people wished to visit other people within the home, staff supported them to do so. There were not any restrictions upon people’s visitors.

Staff were observed to provide people with choices about their care. People were involved in decisions about their care and staff asked for their views before acting.

People said overall they enjoyed the activities and entertainment provided and they liked chatting with staff as they provided their care. People also had use of the activities room for painting and craft. Staff were recently reminded about the need to increase people's engagement and spend time supporting meaningful activities. Although we did not see staff run planned activities, they were observed doing a short quiz, watching sport or listening to music with people. Whilst 2 people said they would like to do more activities outside of the home. There was evidence staff had arranged external activities for 2 people which reflected their hobbies and interests. People also arranged their own social activities such as the Men’s Club who chose their bottle of wine to share daily as they chatted over lunch.

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's care plans noted if they could not use the call bell to summon assistance from staff and therefore needed regular checks. People’s call bells were not left to ring for long periods of time unanswered.

Staff were observant and responsive to people's needs and acted to avoid any preventable concern or distress. A professional told us staff had a good understanding of people and their behaviours which enabled them to be proactive to people’s signs of distress. Staff noticed when people required assistance and provided support. We saw a person called out for help and staff responded straight away.

People were cared for by staff who felt valued. Staff were also supported during their supervisions

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 well supported and valued in their role. Staff’s feedback included, “Hampshire County Council is a good employer, we get support” and “Managers here are brilliant.”

The provider was a disability confident employer and had a reasonable adjustments policy, to support staff with a disability within their role. There was also an employee support service for staff to book a free confidential health check. The staff team's well-being, and any staff support plans were reviewed monthly.