Walsingham House

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 inspection we rated this key question good. At this inspection 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.

All 3 people living at the service gave us positive feedback about staff caring for them. One person described the registered manager to us as “ace” and another person gave us the ‘thumbs up’ sign when we asked them about staff. One relative told us, “The staff are lovely and caring. I appreciate all the hard work they do.”

During our visit, we observed staff interactions with people. People were relaxed with staff members and had built positive relationships. Staff spoke in a gentle and soft tone of voice with people and gave them time to make decisions.

At one point during our visit, it was quite busy in the home. One staff member was asking a person what they would like for lunch and was interrupted by a visit to the home from a tradesperson arriving to undertake some work. The staff member imparted the needed information to the visitor, then returned to the person, taking their hand and apologising for leaving them to answer the door. They then returned to supporting the person with their lunchtime choice.

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 treated people as individuals and plans were made in response to people’s choices rather than the needs of the service. For example, during our visit 1 person wished to visit their relative with staff support. Another person changed their mind about going out and decided they wished to stay at home and do some colouring. Adjustment was made to staffing support to meet people’s needs. Staff told us 1 person used to enjoy going swimming but came to find this a bit tiring so alternative interests were explored. The staff member added, “It’s about what they like to do really."

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

Staff encouraged people to make decisions about their day-to-day care. For example, 1 staff member told us how they encouraged a person to select their choice of clothing for the day. Another staff member explained that if another person pointed to their ears, this meant they would like to wear their earrings. Relatives were complimentary about the staff team and felt they were pro-active in promoting people’s independence in making decisions about their life.

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.

During our visit, staff were attentive to people’s needs. One person had limited verbal communication and staff understood how to phrase questions that enabled either a yes or no to reduce the person’s anxiety. Staff also understood what people’s non-verbal communication meant and could act on this to meet their needs.

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

Staff felt supported by their peers, another home manager and the registered manager. One staff member told us, “[Name] pops in to help us. The management are good. We can call a manager at any point. We always know who is on call. They are very approachable.” This staff member went on to tell us, “We are like a little family. We work close and we are friendly, personally and professionally. The residents can see how comfortable we are and that we enjoy our job. They can bounce off us. We all have a laugh and a joke. We are a really good team.”

The registered manager told us they often worked on shift at the home, alongside staff and felt this provided opportunities to ensure staff were well supported. Staff had one to one supervision meetings and told us team meetings took place.