Woodland Residential 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.

This is the first assessment for this newly registered 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 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 was exceptional at treating people with kindness, empathy and compassion and in how they respected people’s privacy and dignity. Staff always treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

There was a culture of kindness and respect and this was reflected in staff behaviours. When walking through the dining room all staff, including maintenance, kitchen and domestic staff, greeted people warmly and with good humour. The dining area had an atmosphere similar to a friendly café where people chose to sit and spend time together as well as eating there at mealtimes. Interactions were warm and genuine. We observed staff linking arms and holding hands with people as they supported them around the service. One member of staff remarked to a person, “You’ve got a beautiful smile.” This compliment clearly pleased the person.

We observed one person who was undecided about what to choose for breakfast. The member of staff was patient, suggesting various options. There was no pressure for the person to make a decision despite the breakfast period coming to an end.

An external professional commented, “I have always found the staff to be very professional, and they have good relationships with relatives and service users. They are always friendly and appear approachable, conversations are always ongoing with the service users.” This was reinforced by people and relatives. One person told us, “I can talk to the staff about anything, they listen and it’s the biggest help to talk.”

External professionals commented on the positive atmosphere in the service. One told us, “The residents always appear happy and well cared for, the staff are engaging and friendly, I am never made to feel unwelcome and all the residents I have worked with have been really happy at Woodland House and only ever move if their needs go beyond what they feel able to meet.”

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 contained comprehensive information about people’s interests, preferences and backgrounds. This can help staff get to know people as individuals and see beyond their health needs. One member of staff told us, “They all have their own story.”

Peoples’ cultural and religious needs were respected, and arrangements made to support them to follow their beliefs.

The importance of meaningful activities was recognised and valued in the service. Although the activity co-ordinator was absent from work at the time of the inspection, staff had ensured activities were still organised.

Managers of the organisation had attended a conference where they had completed an experiential workshop taking part in various activities which might be offered in a care home. The regional manager and registered manager told us this had made them realise the importance of tailoring activities to the individual, in order to help ensure they were engaged and their preferences met.

The organisation was working with another agency to source equipment to support people with restricted mobility to be able to access beaches. In addition, more vehicles were being purchased to enable people to take trips out more regularly. The registered manager was leading on this initiative.

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

People were encouraged to maintain their independence as much as possible. Staff were aware of what people needed support with and what they could do for themselves. One person told us, “I like to stay independent with their support and use my wheelchair to go to the local shops.”

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.

There were enough staff to help ensure people’s needs were met in the moment. Call bells were answered quickly. People had easy access to drinks which were regularly refreshed.

We observed one person being supported to move from a chair to a wheelchair. The person had attempted to stand but was struggling to remain standing securely. Staff reassured the person and sought extra support from their colleagues to ensure the resident remained safe at all times. The resident was transferred calmly, staff worked well together problem-solving and monitoring the resident throughout.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care.

Staff told us they were well supported and managers were flexible and caring when staff had issues outside of work which impacted on their ability to work as planned. The registered manager spoke highly of the staff team who they clearly valued. They commented, “We have a really good team. They don’t realise how good they are.” The wider organisation had developed recognition initiatives; the chef manager had been awarded the organisations ‘chef of the year’ award. This approach promoted staff confidence and expertise.

Training and development opportunities were available. As well as mandatory training, staff were encouraged to develop professionally. The deputy manager had recently been put forward to complete a course to enable them to work towards becoming a registered manager in the future.