Cocklebury Farmhouse

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. At this assessment 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 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.

At the last inspection we found language used in care records and incident reports did not always maintain people’s dignity. At this inspection we found this had improved. All records we sampled used respectful language and maintained people’s dignity. Staff had completed training in dignity and compassion and record keeping since the last inspection.

People told us they liked staff and felt they were treated well. We observed people being treated with respect by staff who knew people’s needs. Staff communicated well with people making sure information was understood. People’s privacy was upheld by staff who knocked on doors before entering and kept personal information confidential. Relatives told us staff were kind, respectful and patient. Comments from relatives included, “The staff are kind and caring. They speak nicely to [person]”; “They are very kind and caring staff” and “[Person] is treated with dignity and respect.” The service supported people with kindness and compassion during periods of grief. Examples included support for people to have time and space to process their loss and support for people to participate in funeral ceremonies for friends and family in ways that were accessible for them.

People appeared comfortable with staff and enjoyed their company. Visiting professionals told us staff interacted well. Comments included, “Cocklebury Farmhouse consistently promotes a culture of kindness, compassion, and dignity, ensuring that people supported are central to all aspects of their care and support” and “I have seen evidence of kindness, compassion and dignity.”

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 and relatives told us staff treated people as individuals and met their specific needs. Staff demonstrated a good knowledge of people they supported and described the individual approach they took to meeting people’s needs. Details of people’s individual needs were reflected in their support plans, including specific ways in which people communicated and how they preferred support to be provided. Examples included individual communication support plans, work with a hairdresser to support a person to have their haircut in a way which met their individual needs and support for people to plan holidays and days out in ways which met their specific needs.

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 able to take part in activities to help maintain independence and set goals to develop their independence skills. This included domestic activities such as cooking and cleaning, maintaining the garden, supporting people to travel independently and supporting people to administer their own medicines. People were supported to maintain relationships with family and friends and to extend their social circle. We observed people being encouraged to do what they could for themselves during the inspection, including encouragement to eat independently with the use of equipment such as a plate guard. Relatives told us people were supported to develop independence skills. Comments from relatives included, “A staff member puts [person] on the train and then I collect him. He loves it. It really promotes his independence” and “They stretch him and they give him responsibilities.”

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 available to support them when they needed it. Relatives said staff responded to people’s needs and made changes to their support plans where necessary. The management team regularly checked care records and completed observations to make sure support was provided in a timely way. Records demonstrated staff responded promptly to people, for example to support people during periods of anxiety which caused them distress.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff, and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. Staff told us they received the support they needed to do their job well, with all staff we spoke with expressing positive comments about working for the provider. They said managers were open and they were able to share any concerns they had. The provider had a 'weekly thank you' scheme, in which staff could praise colleagues and recognise the positive way they had worked. These messages were shared and celebrated each week by the managing director. Staff were confident managers would act on any concerns they raised. The provider had an external support service staff could access if needed, including counselling and advice. The management team supported staff with adjustments to their working pattern, for example due to caring commitments or health conditions.