Linson Court

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. This key question has been rated good. This meant people were safe and protected from avoidable harm.

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 kind and friendly interactions between people and all groups of staff. The atmosphere was inclusive, and relatives and visitors were welcomed. We observed staff spoke warmly about people and engaged positively with them. Comments included, “It makes me happy to see a smile on a resident’s face, they feel like family.”

Care records were written respectfully.

Feedback from people and relatives was positive about the caring nature of staff. Comments included, “They are respectful and friendly” and “They are kind, when they walk past [person], they know them and call their name. [Person] smiles and answers them. I think [person] is quite happy here.”

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 were supported by consistent staff who knew them well. Staff knew people’s needs and wishes well. There was a lack of individualised or group activities available for people and this was reflected in people, relatives and staff feedback. At the time of our visits there was no activity coordinator in place, but the registered manager was recruiting to 2 positions, and 1 activity coordinator had recently started their induction. Some people visited a local coffee morning in the community regularly and there were some ad hoc celebrations in place but there was a lack of consistent opportunities to engage in meaningful person-centred opportunities, particularly for those people who were cared for in their own rooms. This was reflected in people’s feedback. Comments included, “It is very boring, there is nothing to do.” We were assured the provider had plans to address this.

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

People’s rights and independence were promoted, and this was reflected in feedback, our observations and people’s care records. Staff spoke kindly about people and told us about examples where they promoted their independence and encouraged them to make choices. We observed staff supporting people with moving and handling, using equipment which promoted people’s independence. Staff were encouraging in their approach and told us this promoted peoples’ independence and made people feel “Safe and secure.”

People and relatives told us they were able to make choices and exercise control. They were involved in writing their care plans. Comments included, “I do things for myself, I like it like that. They don’t stop me doing anything I want to do.”

The provider listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Due to staffing deployment and numbers of staff were not always able to respond people’s needs in the moment and act to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress.

Where people were able, they had access to call bells. Over the course of the assessment there was a high number of call bells ringing, which indicated people needed care or reassurance. Some people told us the frequency of the call bells ringing impacted on their wellbeing. We received consistent feedback from staff, people and relatives which highlighted people often had to wait for staff support, particularly at busy times. The provider told us there were plans to upgrade the call system which would mean the call bells would activate on staff devices to minimise any disruption for other people.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff.

Staff told us they felt valued, and their health and wellbeing were actively promoted. They received very good support from the provider and the registered manager. Comments from staff included, “The [registered] manager goes above and beyond helping staff.” Examples of the provider promoting staff wellbeing included a staff recognition initiative, benefits schemes and access to an employee assistance programme. The provider had a staff wellbeing plan which outlined and demonstrated their commitment to staff.