South Haven 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 provider involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

At our last assessment we rated this key question requires improvement and the service was in breach of legal regulations in relation to dignity and respect. Improvements were found at this assessment and the provider was no longer in breach of this regulation. The rating has changed to good. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

This service scored 65 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

At our previous assessment we observed occasions when people were not treated in a kind, compassionate and dignified way. At this assessment we found improvements in this area.

Throughout this assessment we observed people were being treated respectfully and there was positive and person-cantered engagement between staff and people. Staff responded kindly to people when spoken to and took the time to ensure people were comfortable. People appeared clean and well cared for.

People were positive about the staff and their comments included, “All the staff are good, they are brilliant”, “They [staff] are always around to help me”, and “The staff are really lovely.” Relatives’ comments included, “They [staff] take the time to talk to her and listen to her. They are amazing” and “The staff are brilliant, when I visit [person] always looks well cared for.”

Staff spoken with described improvements in the standard of care provided since the last assessment. A staff member said, “The care provided to people is so much better, senior staff and management are coming down hard on staff, but we much better supported, and people and staff all seem much happier.” Another staff member said, “I've seen a lot of changes, it's different now, staff are more engaging with residents.” A third staff member told us, “There have been so many improvements in a short space of time, people have so many more opportunities than they did.”

Since the last assessment the provider had implemented more robust procedures and systems to help ensure people are always treated with kindness, empathy and compassion and their privacy and dignity is respected. These includes increased observations of care provided, spot checks, competency checks of staff practice, frequent walk arounds by a member of the management team and increased discussions with people and staff to get feedback on care.

At this assessment we found improvements had been made to help ensure people were treated as individuals and to make sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. Staff took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

People and relatives told us staff treated people as individuals and understood their specific needs. One person said, “I like to spend time in my room, the staff don’t mind but they do always tell me what is going on so I can join in if I want to.” Another person told us, “I can go to bed and get up when I want.” Relatives’ comments included, “They [staff] understand [person] and know how to care for her” and “They [staff] got to know [person] pretty quickly. [Person] likes to talk, and they [staff] listen and engage with her.”

People’s individual care records contained more personalised information about people than they had at our previous assessment to help staff understand their needs better. Staff were able to describe people’s individual needs, how people liked to receive care and their likes and dislikes. During our assessment visits we heard staff talk to people about subjects they were interested in.

We observed people who choose to spend time in the communal areas of the home being encouraged and engaged by staff to partake in activities. During our visits people enjoyed a quiz, arts and crafts and entertainment from an outside company with was enjoyed by all. People cared for in their rooms were supported to do things they enjoyed. A person said, “The staff put on horror films for me.” The person confirmed these were the films of their choice.

The mealtime experience for people was a sociable one and people’s needs, abilities, and likes and dislikes had been considered and catered to. People had access to a daily menu with was in both written and picture format which supported them to make informed choices.

We did not look at Independence, choice and control during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

At this assessment we found some improvements had been made in relation to ensuring people’s needs were responded to in a timely way. However, further improvement was required in this area.

During our assessment visits we observed staff were on hand to support people and where people had pressed call bells for support these were answered quickly. However, we identified numerous occasions where people in their bedrooms did not have access to call bells to allow them to summon staff should support or assistance be required. This meant we could not be assured staff would respond to people’s needs in the moment or act to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress in a timely way.

We received mixed views from people in their bedrooms about having access to call bells and the timeliness of responses. One person who did not have their call bell to hand when we spoke with them said, “That’s a one off, I usually have it.” Another person who didn’t have their call bell even though one was in their bedroom said, “I haven’t got one in here, but I would like one in case I need help.” A third person told us, “I have one somewhere but don’t know where it is. If I need help, I will shout. They [staff] usually come quickly.” This was discussed with the manager on our second site visit, and they confirmed this would be addressed.

Care staff told us they acted on concerns linked to people's care and health by escalating them to the nurse or a manager and care plans detailed how to respond to people in emergencies. On review of people’s care recorded it was noted referrals had been made to healthcare specialists were required including speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and GP’s. Additionally, multi-disciplinary meetings were completed weekly, and the service had implemented daily ‘flash’ meetings to ensure any concerns identified were shared and acted on in a timely way.

We did not look at Workforce wellbeing and enablement during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.