Winchester Heights 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 assessment for this service under the new legal entities. 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 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. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

We observed staff and the registered manager treating people with kindness and observed they had a good rapport with people. Relatives told us, “The general caring attitude has been very impressive,” and “It’s a happy place to be. The staff are pleasant and friendly.”

Visitors to the home were welcomed at any time. Private spaces were available both inside and outside the home for people and their visitors to spend time together. One relative told us, “My loved one is safe, staff are kind, and I visit whenever I want and have not had any complaints or worries.”

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.

We observed people making choices throughout their day including when, where and what they wanted to eat and what they wanted to wear. The registered manager told us, “We go through people’s care plans with them and ask if it is ok, we ask how they want their care to be done and if they are happy to involve family we include them. We speak to people and observe their body language to ensure they are happy.” People told us staff were kind, ensured they got what they needed and were dependable.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

Staff empowered people to be as independent as possible and celebrated people’s achievements. We observed people making choices throughout their day including when, where and what they wanted to eat and what they wanted to wear. When interacting with people, staff ensured they were face to face with people and at their level.

One person told us, “I have my painting which I love and spend a lot of my time doing in my bedroom. I had never painted before I came here so this has been wonderful.”

The provider did not always listen to and understand people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff did not always respond to people’s needs in the moment or act to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress.

A relative told us about a situation where their relative had not been supported when required.

We observed 1 person who sat in the dining room for 3 hours attempting to get up from their chair on numerous occasions but were not responded to. We asked a staff member what they thought the person was indicating, they explained the person did that when they needed the bathroom. No attempt was made to support the person to the bathroom. The staff member explained, “We support people to the toilet in the morning and after lunch.” We spoke with the registered manager who told us there were set times for supporting people who could not communicate they needed to go to the toilet. However, if people indicated they needed to go to the toilet in between times they would be supported.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care.

Staff members told us they felt supported. One staff member told us, “I can seek support and advice when needed.” Staff surveys took place, and the registered manager shared the responses and had an action plan in place to drive improvement. The registered manager had an open-door policy, so staff had access to them when they needed it.

The registered manager told us they monitored the culture within the service. They told us they had worked on improving the culture within the service by ensuring there was a visible daily management presence.