Park Lodge Care Home

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 service involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

People using the service were being treated with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

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.

People told us staff treated them with kindness and respect. Comments from people about staff included, “They are absolutely wonderful”, “They have the patience of saints, but you can banter with them too”, “They are pretty good, if you ask for anything they get it for you”, and “They are nice and friendly.”

Staff demonstrated a compassionate and respectful approach to supporting people with their personal care needs, privacy and independence. Staff understood the importance of promoting dignity and encouraged people to do as much for themselves as possible, offering support only when needed. A relative told us whenever they visited their loved one always looked well-presented and clean.

People were treated as individuals. One person told us, “The staff are always encouraging me to walk around the garden.” Another person said, “The staff do not talk down to the people that live here.” A relative commented, “When I visit my loved one, I am always made to feel welcome by staff and by the manager in particular.”

Staff told us they had received training on equality and diversity, and they treated people with respect. The registered manager told us about a Cultural Celebration Day that was held at the service. The said the event brought together people using the service, staff, next of kin, and friends of the service in a vibrant display of unity, diversity, and shared heritage. Staff were encouraged to bring in traditional foodsfrom their cultural backgrounds, creating a colourful and aromatic buffet that everyone enjoyed. The menu included a variety of authentic dishes representing the services diverse cultural mix. Staff also dressed in their traditional cultural attire, representing their ethnicity and national pride.

The provider told us they employed an activities coordinator to support people using the service 3 day a week. The activities co-ordinator told us they worked 2.5 hours on a Wednesday and Friday. The registered manager told us a person who previously worked at the service also helped with activities 2 days each week. During our inspection we observed that activities provided to people was limited. While some activities were available, these were not planned in a way that reflected people’s individual interests, backgrounds, or preferences. We saw a notice board displaying activities that were expected to happen, but none of these took place.

Comments from people about activities included, “I do nothing really, it can be boring”, “It can be dull here, not much provided.”, “Not much going on at all, I would like some outings” and “I would like some outings and something to do.” Comments from relatives included, “There is a lack of activities, although I don’t know what [loved one] could do now”, and “[Loved one] walks about a lot, and sometimes they have someone come in, but overall, I would say there was a lack of stimuli.” A health care professional told us, “An activity coordinator would be great. Activities do happen, but leadership over this at the service would enhance what they are already doing.”

We raised the lack of meaningful activities with the registered manager and provider. On our second day at the service, they told us they taken action to address this. They had identified a staff member for the role of an activities co-ordinator. They would be undertaking a one-week shadowing placementat another of their services with an experienced activities co-ordinator. The new activities co-ordinator would be working 6 hours a day 5 days a week focusing solely on planning, coordinating, and facilitating meaningful activities for people using the service. We will look at this key question again at our next inspection of the service.

Staff responded to people’s immediate needs. People told us staff were kind and provided support promptly when required. One person commented, “If I need something the staff are right there.” Another person said, “The staff are very fast when I need help.” Throughout our inspection we observed staff were attentive and responsive to people’s needs and requests. Call bells were answered promptly by staff who were caring and empathic.

There were systems in place to support staff and help them to develop within their roles. Staff told us they felt well supported and spoke positively about the leadership and management within the service. They also confirmed that training and development opportunities were readily available, helping them to feel confident and competent in providing high-quality care.