Cygnet Manor

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 service involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. At this assessment, we rated this key question Outstanding. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect, involved as partners in their care and seen as individuals. People’s care was person-centred and tailored to meet their individual needs. They were encouraged and supported to be involved in their care and treatment planning. Resources and equipment were available to allow the service to respond promptly to the needs of people. People told us the staff were caring and compassionate. Staff were visible and available to people and supported them to maintain and build upon their independence, promoting choice and control. People received high quality care and support. Staff were very well supported by leaders through numerous wellbeing and appreciation initiatives. They had regular breaks and rest periods which allowed them to perform their roles to the best of their abilities in a safe, caring and effective way.

This service scored 100 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Throughout our visit, we found staff treated people with kindness, compassion, dignity and respect. People felt positive about the relationships they had with staff. One person told us, “All the staff are really good, we all have different staff that we go to more often than others, but all the staff are good and helpful no matter who you go to.”

Staff built therapeutic relationships with people based on trust and compassion. They demonstrated good knowledge of each individual person’s needs, preferences and histories. Staff responded promptly to the needs of people, actively listened and communicated in ways they could understand. Staff provided reassurance, encouragement and emotional support when required.

Staff accepted people for who they were, with kindness compassion and dignity. They were fully inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community, which ensured people were validated, valued and empowered to make decisions about their care and future placements.

The service promoted monthly staff support days, where case formulation session were completed with the support of the psychology team and focused on a different person each month. Feedback received form staff following the sessions was positive. Staff feedback highlighted the sessions had helped them to increase their compassion and understanding of the different people using the service.

One relative told us “Staff regularly bring my son home for visits, they’re really lovely, you can just tell it’s more than a job to them, they genuinely care.”

Throughout our visit, we observed staff consistently maintained peoples’ privacy and dignity. The service fostered a culture of kindness, compassion, dignity and respect which ensured staff always demonstrated a caring approach.

Staff treated people as individuals and provided care and support adapted to meet each person’s own needs and preferences. People told us they felt included and listened to. One person told us, “They’re very good here, the staff treat me as me and not like anyone else, they know the things I like and the things I don’t.”

Care plans reflected personal, cultural, religious and social needs. Staff considered people’s backgrounds, beliefs and protected characteristics when delivering care. Staff facilitated religious, and cultural awareness events in order to educate and involve all staff and people in understanding and celebrating different cultures. The service had held events for Black History Month, Diwali and South Asian Heritage month.

The service and external stakeholders co-produced transition and discharge plans. Staff had undertaken additional training packages which were co-produced and delivered with input from people using the service and their family members. This ensured that future providers were fully up to date in regard to people's needs and allowed them to communicate their choices more effectively.

Staff effectively met individual communication needs. Information was available in numerous formats to support people’s varying needs. Staff adapted their approach and used communication resources to ensure people not only engaged in decisions about their care but also had meaningful conversation about who they were and what they liked. One staff member told us "We give people ’welcome to the meeting forms’ prior to their multidisciplinary meeting and help them to complete it. Welcome to the meeting lists any requests or preferences the person may have and also enables them to list any worries, concerns or questions.” Staff also provided people with interests and needs forms, which they supported the person to complete ensuring all aspects of their care was person-centred.

Staff regarded the religious and cultural needs of people as a priority and were made aware of the person's needs and preferences prior to admission. The service had a multi-faith room which ensured religious and cultural needs were met. The service also welcomed religious and cultural leaders to attend and spend time with people if this was requested.

The service effectively met dietary requirements, needs and preferences. Religious and cultural meals were provided upon request and other dietary requirements such as vegetarian meals were consistently accommodated.

Staff encouraged, supported and empowered people to have as much choice and control over their care as possible. They involved people in decisions always considering their capacity and legal status and supported them with appropriate communication methods which ensured they understood their rights.

Staff helped people to maintain important relationships and stay connected to their communities. The service organised regular family and carer days and activities such as BBQs and charity fund raising days, where relatives visited, enjoyed time with their loved ones, engaged in activities and spoke with the care team. When relatives attended any events, they could also request information and access support. Staff encouraged and facilitated visits and leave, ensuring people stayed connected with family and friends. One person told us, “Staff help me to stay in touch with my family, they help me to arrange visits here and have even taken me home to spend time with my family.”

The occupational therapy team and activity coordinators promoted, encouraged and supported people to take part in a wide range of meaningful activities based on their choices and abilities. These included physical activities such as walking, swimming, gardening and horticulture, where people grew their own fruit and vegetables which were often used in the services meal and healthy snack preparations. Functional skills groups were facilitated, such as public transport journey planning and road safety awareness. Recreational activities were also offered, such as, board games, arts and crafts, pool tournaments and social outings to the local public house. The service provided community facing activities, for example days out to local attractions, community errands and personal shopping. People also had the opportunity to engage and work with people in the local community on charity projects.

The service had good relationships with employers in the local community and promoted a real work experience initiative. People using the service had the option, if they wished, to gain meaningful voluntary working opportunities and learn new skills. The real work experience initiative empowered personal independence and built upon existing real-life skills in preparation for people rejoining their communities.

The service collaborated with a local independent education provider to support independence and learning. Courses included English and maths. Activities were adapted to each person’s individual needs, preferences and capabilities.

Staff supported people’s physical health alongside their mental health. When needs were identified and assessed, the service provided specialist adaptive equipment such as mobility aids to people who needed them. Accessible bathrooms were available throughout the service to support people’s independence.

Staff responded quickly and effectively identified people’s needs or distress. They were alert, observant and effectively recognised changes in people’s presentations and the dynamics of the environment. Staff responded promptly to maintain the wellbeing of people and to mitigate any potential risks. People using the service were confident in approaching staff with any issues or concerns and did without hesitation knowing they would be listened to and supported. One person told us “I think the staff are well trained and they listen. I’m happy to go to staff whenever I need to and often do.”

The service and its staff used numerous forms of communication to help people to express themselves and seek support whenever required. The service also had a strong working relationship with advocacy services, with an advocate attending site twice weekly to support people and their families to communicate their needs.

Staff built open and meaningful relationships with people which helped them anticipate needs and provide proactive rather than reactive support. Throughout our visit staff responded quickly and effectively to the needs of people.

The service utilised ‘talking tiles’ interactive communication technology. Talking tiles was a series of tiles that were pressed for descriptive information. Each tile had a separate heading and when pressed gave an audio description and explanation of the chosen topic such as safety and safeguarding. Talking tiles were used by people in their multidisciplinary team meetings and offered information relating to their admission, such as understanding me, my skills and my independence. Talking tiles were also available to people and their relatives in the family visiting room. With a dedicated set of tiles for the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which explained the 5 key questions, safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led.

When the ward alarms sounded, staff reacted promptly to identify the people’s needs and additional staff arrived quickly to offer support. Staff used effective de-escalation techniques to reduce the need for physical intervention if a decline in mental wellbeing was identified, people became distressed, or if emotions became heightened.

Leaders supported their staff to access wellbeing resources to ensure the safe and effective delivery of person-centred care. They encouraged regular breaks and promoted a culture where staff felt valued, supported and able to speak freely. Staff described leaders as available and approachable. One staff member told us, “Managers are responsive, caring and approachable. We have all had times when we have needed support and it’s always there, 100% fabulous!”

The service promoted staff recognition across all care teams and had a monthly colleague appreciation initiative. Each staff member voted anonymously for a colleague who they felt had gone above and beyond in carrying out their role and for modelling behaviours essential to delivering person-centred, high-quality care.

The service had staff celebration and appreciation days for staff members across all teams such as, nurses, support workers, psychologists, cleaners and administration. With individuals receiving gifts and flowers in recognition of their commitment and contribution, and their compassion and the positive impact that they had on team morale and the people they supported.

Staff were also nominated for the services characters of care awards. The initiative empowered staff to celebrate their colleagues for completing their role in an exceptional way. Nominated staff were entered into a monthly cash prize draw, and at the end of the year 10 staff members were entered into the annual cash prize draw with prizes ranging from £100 to £1000. The 10 staff entered into the annual draw also benefited from bespoke career development opportunities provided by the services Learning & Development team. In addition to this the service celebrated staffs’ commitment and dedication with long service awards. The service promoted stress awareness month in recognition of the care, and commitment shown by staff in what could be a challenging environment. Staff received gifts and were treated to relaxation and pamper sessions.

Staff were encouraged to seek support whenever they needed to and had access to a wide range of wellbeing resources. The service provided 24/7 staff support through its online employment assistance programme: My Cygnet. Staff at all levels could access counselling services, psychology services and a menopause support café. Staff also received support from the services wellbeing team, human resource team (HR), Freedom to Speak Up service and the occupational health team if required. Staff were supported through times of bereavement or family illness and received flowers, and a thinking of you messages from colleagues. They were also given paid compassionate leave if required.

The service made reasonable adjustments for staff who had family, caring and social commitments which promoted a healthy work-life balance. Reasonable adjustments had also been made for staff to ensure they could meet their cultural and religious needs. Staff prided themselves on the quality of care they provided and appreciated the colleagues who supported them. They also appreciated the support, flexibility and understanding shown by their leadership team.

Staff were confident to raise any issues and gave feedback freely. Leaders responded quickly and effectively to feedback given to them or any concerns that were raised. This promoted a culture of inclusivity, openness and shared ownership. Staff appraisals included performance reviews and future goal setting. Career development discussions took place where opportunities for them were identified. Staff felt listened to, involved and appreciated.