Merlin Court Care Home

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

Responsive – this means we looked for evidence that the provider met people’s needs. At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good. This meant people’s needs were met through good organisation and delivery.

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 made sure people were at the centre of their care and treatment choices and they decided, in partnership with people, how to respond to any relevant changes in people’s needs. People had their own care plan which was personalised. There were details recorded on a wide range of needs. Leaders had recorded information respectfully reminding staff to be mindful of privacy, dignity and respect.

We observed people being supported and cared for in a person-centred way. People were supported to make choices about what they wanted to do and where they wanted to be. People were provided with support to engage in activities and maintain their skills. Staff knew people’s communication needs and adapted their approaches when people were having difficulties understanding.

The provider understood the diverse health and care needs of people and their local communities, so care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity.

People had the care they needed as leaders, and staff had established good working relationships with different services. This meant people had continuity with their care and were seen by professionals who knew them. The service offered respite care for people and worked in partnership with families and professionals to re-assess people’s needs and respond flexibly if needed.

The provider supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs.

People had a welcome pack in their rooms when they moved into the service. This provided them with information about life at the service and what to expect day to day. There was information around the service keeping people up to date with what was happening and any events or celebrations taking place. Some of this information was in large font and pictorial which helped people read and understand it.

The registered manager told us information could be provided for people in any format they needed. The provider had a marketing team who helped produce documents in various ways. People had been provided with leaflets which had information on menus and activities which they said was helpful to them.

The provider made it easy for people to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. Staff involved people in decisions about their care and told them what had changed as a result.

People had ‘resident meetings’ they attended where their views were listened to. Meeting minutes were kept and shared with people. One person told us they had raised at a meeting they wanted more fruit available around the service. They said this had been listened to and they now had access to more fresh fruit. We also observed fresh fruit available. Actions arising from ‘resident meetings’ were added to the provider reporting system. This meant actions were allocated to staff to complete and monitored until carried out.

The provider had a complaints policy which outlined how they would respond to any complaint including timescales. There were plans to add this information to the welcome pack people received and produce an easy read version of the complaints process.

The provider made sure that people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it.

The premises was purpose built with wide corridors and a lift for people to access ground and first floors. People had access to a garden from the ground floor, and some people had rooms which had their own doors onto outside space. People had their own bathrooms and use of communal shower or baths if they wished.

The service had waking staff on duty 24/7 which meant they could have care whenever they wished. There were out of hours arrangements and a rota so that a leader was always on call. This meant staff had access to management at any time.

Staff and leaders actively listened to information about people who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes and tailored their care, support and treatment in response to this.

Leaders were experienced in providing care, were aware of ways in which people may face discrimination and took action to support people to get the services they needed. For example, if people had reduced mobility or dementia, staff sourced services to come into people’s rooms. This meant they had access to services such as foot care or audiology.

There was a daily head of department meeting which meant management could identify any issues in a timely way and take action to make sure people had what they needed.

People were supported to plan for important life changes, so they could have enough time to make informed decisions about their future, including at the end of their life.

People’s wishes for end-of-life care had been recorded. If people had specific instructions around resuscitation, this was also recorded and the relevant documents were held in care plans.

There was no end-of-life care taking place at the time of this assessment; however, it was an area of care the service had provided. Staff had training on providing this type of care and knew who to contact for support and advice.