High Mount

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. The service under a previous provider was rated requires improvement for this key question. 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 65 (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. Staff interaction with people was friendly and personalised. Staff generally anticipated people’s needs such as support with eating and drinking and support with their continence. Staff spoke with people at eye level and used respectful language, giving people time to respond to them. For example, asking what meal choice they would like for lunch or where they wanted to sit. Staff encouraged people to engage and participate in activities, such as puzzles and playing games. We observed doors to people’s rooms were closed when people were being supported with their personal care needs.

The provider treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. They took account people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics. People were treated as individuals and encouraged to complete tasks throughout the day. Where people did not wish to take part, this was respected by staff, but they still involved people. We observed staff calling people by their preferred name. Care plans promoted keeping people independent and involved in their day-to-day tasks. One relative told us, “The staff do try, it’s difficult as [Person] enjoys sitting and observing rather than joining in”.

The provider mostly promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. Staff were aware of people’s needs around eating and drinking. However, we observed staff not always promoting independence using the appropriate cutlery. For example, we observed a staff member supporting a person with their lunch. Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) guidelines recorded staff were to encourage and support the person to hold the cutlery, our observation did not see this taking place and the staff member just fed the person. We observed a further staff member prompting and encouraging a person to keep eating. This was recorded in the person’s care plan showing the staff member understood the person’s needs around eating and drinking. People’s care plans included information about what the person could do for themselves or how they were involved in certain tasks. Relatives told us they could visit and call when they wanted to. There were no restrictions on visiting times and people were able to see who they wanted

The provider mostly listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. We didn’t always see staff respond to people’s immediate needs. For example, a person was sitting at the table in the dining room, 2 people were eating their lunch in front of them and they became distressed. The person started making loud vocal noises and showing signs of distress. Staff did not respond to this or act. Care plans in place provided guidance for staff to understand when a person was becoming distressed or requiring emotional support or reassurance. Staff responded to people’s emotional needs. Care plans provided methods to help people when they become distressed and might show behaviours of concern or severe anxiety. People were able to communicate if they wanted to engage with others or have more one-to-one time.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. Most of the staff had worked in the bungalows for a long time. Staff told us they enjoyed working at High Mount. Staff felt supported by management and felt positive about the new provider. Staff told us about the training they had been provided and how recently they had received additional training courses. Staff were positive about the new manager and how they completed regular supervisions and communicated well. Staff had regular team meetings. The registered manager told us how they completed a welcome coffee morning for new starters. On the day of our onsite visit, a coffee welcome morning was taking place. One staff member told us, “I feel valued in my role and happy with the improvements made”.