Gateford Hill 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.

This is the first full assessment for this service. This key question has been rated 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. Everyone we spoke with commended the staff at Gateford Hill for their kind and caring approach. A relative we spoke with said, “I always observe how staff speak with people, and they are wonderful. They spend time with people.” Staff told us they treated people with kindness, compassion and dignity. Our observations supported this feedback, for example, during lunch time we observed a staff member supporting a person with their nutritional needs, a staff member encouraged the person to remain independent with kind prompts, they provided other options to them in simple language they understood. This approach ensured the persons dignity was maintained. The provider’s senior management team spoke with pride about the staff team and the changes they have made since the last assessment. The inspection team were welcomed by the whole team. The provider was keen to show us the improvements which had been made since our previous assessment, they had actively reached out prior to the assessment to the inspection team to discuss progress at the service and the positive impact the changes had on people living at the service. The management and staff team all showed confidence in their roles, and an openness when discussing the development of the service.

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. A relative we spoke with said, “Staff are always respectful. They have a good understanding of my [relative’s] needs.” Care plans detailed people’s needs and preferences. For example, information relating to a person’s religious needs were detailed within their care plan. This provided staff with accurate information to ensure people’s induvial needs were met. Staff explained they supported the person with their religious needs to ensure they felt fulfilled. Staff received further training since our last assessment to develop their skills when supporting people living with dementia, staff we spoke with said, “We have had extra training in dementia care, it’s so interesting and provided with me extra knowledge so I can really get the best out of people.” Care plans documented people’s communication needs and what support was required.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. People and their relatives told us they were offered choice in how they wished to spend their time. A relative we spoke with said, they completed an ‘About Me’ book when their loved one first moved into Gateford Hill, they explained staff learnt new things about their relative, and this helped staff to plan their care and offer activities to meet their needs. A person we spoke with also said, “I like to stay in my room, staff are lovely, they pop in and out all day to me.” Staff promoted people’s independence and respected their choices. Staff supported people to undertake activities of their choosing. Staff said they offered a variety of social opportunities including offering 1:1 support to people who prefer to stay in their bedroom. For example, staff supported people to go out and about into the local community which included visiting an ice cream parlour, staff also explained they completed themed individual outside activities one of which was linked to a person’s favourite book. This approach ensured people’s choices and independence was respected.

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 told us staff were kind and caring and provided support in a respectful timely manner. A person explained, staff now came without delay when they requested support. A relative of a person we spoke with explained there were staff available to meet their loved one’s immediate needs now, they said, “I never have any problems finding staff now whereas previously I sometimes struggled to find a member of staff.” We found any calls were answered quickly. The manager had commenced work in analysing call bell times to assure themselves people needs were being met in a timely manner. We observed staff to be kind, caring and attentive. When people called for assistance staff responded quickly. For example, a person reported having a headache, staff immediately turned the music down and reported to the nursing staff without delay.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. Staff meetings took place frequently to ensure staff were supported. The provider also organised weekly HR clinics which was independent to the management team at Gateford Hill to allow staff to raise any issues with an independent team. The provider recognised staffs’ wellbeing had been compromised historically and was actively seeking opportunities to build staff’s trust. Staff told us about the employee of the month initiative which boosted staff morale. We observed staff to work together effectively in designated roles to ensure people’s needs were met.