Amber Lodge

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 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.

Feedback from relatives was very positive and comments included, “I just feel [relative] is so lucky to be in such a wonderful home” and “I feel they look after [relative] very well; and are very kind and caring to her. I am always made very welcome, and nothing is too much trouble for the staff.” One person told us, “Yes, I do like it here, and staff do talk to me a lot.”

Staff knew people well including their personal history, background and goals.A member of staff told us, “I am caring and kind. That’s my profession. That’s why I got into care.”

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. Care plans were person centred and reflected people’s individual needs and preferences. Staff took time to get to know people and regularly discussed their likes, dislikes and preferred ways of receiving care. The activities coordinator worked with people to understand which activities they enjoyed and how best to support their social and emotional well-being. During our assessment we observed the activities coordinator spending time with people in their rooms talking, reading and encouraging light exercise.

The activities coordinator told us, “We do celebrate birthdays with decorations and a cake made. I enjoy encouraging the residents to join in activities and I get a lot of support from the manager if I want to buy anything for the activities I just go and ask.” One person’s room was decorated with balloons and a banner to celebrate their recent birthday.

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

Staff supported people to make day to day decisions about their care and to have as much choice and control as possible. People were encouraged to maintain their independence and set personal goals, including planning activities with the coordinator or spending time with friends and family. Staff supported people to maintain relationships with friends and relatives through visits and outings.

The service supported a number of people receiving palliative care, both on a short and long term basis. Staff recognised that people’s needs and wishes could change as their condition progressed and adapted care accordingly. People receiving palliative care were supported to maintain choice, dignity and control for as long as possible including involvement about their care, daily routines and how they spent their time.

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. The registered manager and deputy manager maintained regular contact with people and their relatives to gather feedback, and these discussions were recorded. The registered manager confirmed that no formal concerns or complaints had been raised by people using the service, those acting on their behalf, the local authority or other stakeholders since the service opened. This was consistent with information held by the CQC.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff, and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. Feedback from staff was positive regarding the support they received from management. A member of staff told us, “They have made reasonable adjustments for me because [of particular circumstance]. I was doing nights before but they stopped that.” Another member of staff explained, “The management support us to provide good care, they raise the standards.”

The registered manager had a number of systems in place to support and engage with staff. There was an open-door policy in the office and staff could access the office at any time to speak to management. The registered manager told us, “I don’t micro manage. I oversee staff. We have an open style management. Door is open, always open to ideas. I don’t claim to know it all.” All of the staff we spoke with, including kitchen, maintenance, care workers and nursing staff all spoke very highly of the registered manager and deputy manager.