Great Oaks

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.This is the first inspection 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 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People told us they were treated with dignity and respect by staff and managers at the service. People’s relatives said they had peace of mind and were certain the staff were kind and compassionate towards their loved one. The manager told us they were extremely proud of their staff team. We observed many kind and thoughtful interactions and people, and staff spoke affectionately about each other. A health and social care professional told us, “Staff are very good, and we have no concerns about people who are living at Great Oaks.” We received positive feedback about the manager of the service, people and their relatives told us they were visible within the service.

People were supported to be their authentic self. Staff told us they would support people as they wished, and everyone had different and very individual needs. Health and social care professionals were positive about the service in terms of supporting people. We observed interactions between staff and people to be person centred. People told us they knew who the management team were, and they were confident in them to support the service. Policies and procedures within the service underpinned care practices and individualised care was at the heart of the service.

Encouraging independence was important to staff and relatives of people told us they appreciated the commitment by the service. The service focused on supporting people to remain well in their own surroundings, noting a person’s abilities within their support plans. Staff told us they understood the importance of supporting people to maintain or regain their independence. A staff member told us about the importance of encouraging independence and said, “It’s the principle of what we do.” Another staff member said, “Independence is a way of life.” We observed many interactions where staff were encouraging people to take part in daily activities. Records showed staff instructions included where a person could undertake tasks for themselves.

Daily, weekly and monthly meetings took place to ensure all relevant information was shared with the right people. A staff member told us they had included an additional meeting in the afternoon to ensure they could update on the day’s events within the service. Multiple times daily staff would gather to discuss people’s needs and ensure everyone knew what was expected. Records showed staff continually supporting individual needs and sharing information. We observed staff responding to people throughout the inspection.

Staff told us there were several schemes which gave them the opportunity to be formally recognised in their work, including employee of the month awards, and a range of staff benefits and support. Staff told us they were supported by their colleagues and the manager. This had included acknowledging improvements made in staff appreciation in recent months.