Pencombe Hall

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 80 (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 people and relatives we spoke with praised staff on their caring, patient and kind support given to people. Staff were described as family members and relatives told us they had observed staff taking time to sit with people when they became anxious or confused, this reassured relatives the service was providing kind, compassionate care. One person told us, “Staff are like my family”. A relative said, “They are so kind and respectful to (relative), the other residents and us as family. I would recommend it to anybody and everybody”. Another relative said, “I love it, (relative) is settled here, the carers really care. They communicate very well, they are like extended family for us. Friendships have been formed”. Staff spoke passionately about the care they provided to people and were proud of their roles. One staff member told us, I love how the home feel like it's their home, I like to spend time talking to the residents and learning about them”.

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’s care plans were personalised, and where possible people had been involved in care planning. Staff treated people as individuals and consideration had been given to any protected characteristics. People and relatives were encouraged to share their life histories to enable staff to be able reminisce and provide activities and events which were of interest to people. One staff member shared “If people don’t participate in activities or they’re unable to, we do activities on a 1-1, we do things which suit people like tac bag sensory stimulus, massage hands”. Staff had keyworker roles which involved doing 1-1 activities with people such as sorting their rooms out, reminiscence, chatting and going on walks. Staff had received training in equality and diversity.

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 choices and preferences were documented in their care plans and people were encouraged to be as independent where possible. One relative told us, “(Relative) said they are offered choice always, and they always have a lovely salad for lunch as that’s what they’ve always had”. Staff shared how they support people to maintain their independence, one staff member told us, “Some people prefer help, someday’ s they will be independent, we always ask people before we assist them. People understand we may need to assist them to use the bathroom, where possible, we ask them to do their personal care themselves with what they are able to. For example, we may ask them to their change clothes or to wash their face, we encourage them be as independent as possible”. One relative told us their loved one had been unwell, and staff had needed to assist them with meals. Since their health had improved, staff had spent time with the person and encouraged them to eat independently again, a relative told us staff had aided their recovery and had helped to regain their independence. We saw evidence people were encouraged to take part in baking sessions, and had enjoyed receiving a special caterpillar kit, providing the opportunity to observe the process of metamorphosis. Staff told us, “The release of the butterflies was a particularly valued moment, promoting a sense of achievement, connection with nature, and emotional wellbeing. The activity has been so positively received people have chosen to request it again”.

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 relatives shared with us staff respond to people’s needs appropriately, and if staff were busy, they responded as quickly as they could. Call bell audits evidenced this, and we observed people were not waiting for long periods of time during our visits. When people required additional help from external health care professionals, referrals were made without delay. One relative told us, “They get professionals involved straight away, call us straight away they know what’s going on with (relative)". Healthcare professionals also confirmed this, one healthcare professional said, “Patients they have concerns about are escalated appropriately to the appropriate team”.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. There was a strong emphasis of team working within the staff team. Staff spoke positively and fondly about their team members and referenced how they support each other in their roles. One staff member told us, “The registered manager and senior staff are so good to the staff. They are fantastic to us- very much like a family, so supportive of each other. When there’s sickness absence there is no need for agency staff, staff cover this”. Staff told us they felt supported by leaders and could raise concerns, and they would be acted upon. The provider had processes in place to support the development of staff, these included staff meetings, supervisions and training courses to develop staff’s knowledge. Staff had developed champion roles to utilise their skills and interests to benefit people living at the service, some of these roles included fire safety, medicines and wound care.