Althorpe Residential 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 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 70 (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. People were happy at the service. We saw interactions between staff and people which were sensitive and kind. A family member told us "The staff are tremendous; they have been absolutely amazing looking after [Name]." Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

The provider treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met their needs and preferences. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics. People's needs were well known to staff who engaged positively and proactively to find out what was important to them. People could pursue their interests and were supported to visit local attractions. Some people chose to go for a walk before their lunch as part of their daily routine. Relatives feedback confirmed that people spent their time as they wished to.

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 encouraged to remain independent. Their rooms were personalised with their own furniture and possessions to make them feel at home in the service. People choose where they wished to spend their time throughout the day. Relatives told us “They [staff] know what [Name] likes. They follow their lead on things and let [Name] be supported how they want.”People told us family members and friends could visit them without restriction.

Staff did not always respond to people’s needs in the moment or act to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. We observed long periods throughout the day where no staff were present or visible in communal areas. There were not effective measures in place to ensure staff could always promptly respond if people were in discomfort or distress. Records relating to the care of people positional changes were not always followed. We observed a person whose care plan stated that they required 3 hourly positional changes. This person remained in the same position for 6 hours during the day of the assessment.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff, who felt supported by the management team. Systems and processes were in place to promote a positive atmosphere within the workplace.Staff told us they could talk to leaders at any time and there was an ‘open door’ approach. One staff member told us “You go in the staff room, and there are sometimes sweets and chocolates as a thank you.”