New Meppershall Care Home

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 Good. At this assessment the rating has remained Good: This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

This service scored 80 (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 treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. A person told us, “The staff are very nice and kind; they are doing a very difficult job. I think there are enough of them. I have always been happy here.” A relative said, “The staff are very nice. I know they look out for [family member].’’

The provider treated people as individuals and ensured their care, support, and treatment met their needs and preferences. They considered people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture, unique backgrounds, and protected characteristics. For example, people’s care plans showed if they had any religious and cultural needs and stated if any festivities were important to them. People could access a worship and reflection area, and the service facilitated church services. A person told us, “I wouldn’t like to change anything. I usually stay in my room, but they are always popping in to chat, and they chat while they are doing things for me, the cleaners chat, too. I would be happy to live here for the rest of my life.”

The provider promoted people’s choice, control and wellbeing exceptionally. For example, during our visits, we observed that people had opportunities to participate in activities. This included an intergenerational easter egg hunt activity with children from a local child-minding group, singing sessions, baking and opportunities to participate in exercise-related activities. Evidence showed that people were regularly supported in participating in community-based activities. For example, recently people have visited the zoo, air museum, pub and palaces. Within the home, people also had opportunities to participate in baking, yoga and board games. The registered manager told us that ensuring people had regular opportunities to participate in activities was an area they were passionate about, and our findings support this. A person told us, “I prefer to be in my room and watch the TV; they worry about me that I am isolated; they couldn’t be kinder. I went to the safari park. I was worried about going to the toilet, and they reassured me; they said don’t worry, we will help you.” We saw evidence of the provider asking people about what they would like to do or their goals and supporting them to achieve this. For example, one person wanted to visit the city and industry they used to work for, and they had been supported to achieve this.

The provider listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff responded to people’s needs or act to minimise discomfort, concern or distress. For example, we observed staff and leaders regularly speaking and checking in with people, including those who preferred to spend their time in their bedrooms. We observed staff checking with people to see if they were experiencing any pain and discomfort. We observed that people were regularly asked if they wanted refreshments, such as drinks and snacks, between meals.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff. All staff we spoke with felt supported by leaders and had no wellbeing concerns. There were systems in place to regularly seek feedback from staff about what would improve staff's wellbeing at work and evidence of the provider acting on this. A staff member said, "The service is very good to their staff; we are part of a good team. I think they support my wellbeing.”