New Forest Nursing 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 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 always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

People’s preference for male or female staff to support them was not always recorded within care plans. One person told us they would prefer only female staff, and we fed this back to the management team who told us they would update the care plan immediately to reflect the person’s preference. When plans did refer to male to female staff, we saw this was respected. People told us staff were “kind” and “friendly.” One person said, “The staff are the type that if you were worried about anything, then they would help you.” People’s relatives told us staff were “A very kind group” and “I haven’t met a member of staff that I haven’t warmed to.”

Staff had a good understanding of how to treat people with kindness and how to protect people’s dignity. One staff member said, “Even before I enter their room I knock on their door and tell them what I am going to do. During personal care I will cover people. I am always talking to people and explaining what we are going to do. I close the curtains for their privacy.”

We observed positive interactions between people and staff. The atmosphere was friendly and welcoming. We saw staff crouched down to people’s eye level when speaking with them and responded kindly when people became upset. We saw that in the main, people were clean and well kempt.

We did not look at Treating people as individuals during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

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

At the last inspection there were no activities staff in post and people and their relatives fed back to us that they would like this rectified. At this inspection we saw there was a permanent activities team in post with activities provision 7 days a week. The activities programme was on display in communal areas and people were provided with a copy. Staff told us one person had started a men’s group and there was a knitting and crafts group as well. One staff member said, “I’ve looked at getting knitting needles which will be good for people with arthritic hands. There wasn’t a great sense of community when I joined, so we are trying different things to keep people together.” There were visiting entertainers and the service had access to a minibus for day trips to local attractions.

During the inspection we observed people engaging in group activities, including a quiz. We saw that some people had taken part in crafts and observed one member of staff showing a relative some artwork their loved one had done. The manager told us they were aware that not all people liked the idea of group activities and that some people chose to have one to one time instead or to be part of smaller groups. They said, “We found that some of our ladies preferred to stay in their rooms, so there is now a ladies club with afternoon tea for example, which allows them to be more sociable, but with smaller numbers.”

People told us staff supported them with washing, dressing and oral care if needed. People told us they were offered regular showers. One person said, “They know I prefer a shower. I ask when I’d like one and they take me to have one.”

Staff told us they encouraged people to be as independent as possible. Some staff told us how they had supported and encouraged people to do things for themselves which had positively impacted people’s independence.

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.

People told us staff contacted the GP if they were unwell. One person said, “A couple of times I’ve had problems and they are very quick at taking care of it. The doctor came to see me today.”

We observed staff interacting with a visiting professional. Records showed staff used a nationally recognised tool to assess people’s clinical condition if they had concerns about their wellbeing. The tool supported staff in knowing when to escalate concerns about people’s health.

Records showed staff had sought advice and support when needed. The service was supported by a local GP surgery who visited twice weekly. One person’s relative told us their loved one could be reviewed face to face by the GP whenever needed.

Staff understood how to support people who might become anxious or agitated. We observed how one staff member responded to a person who was becoming anxious. The staff member sat with the person and explained what was happening and stayed with them until they relaxed. One person’s relative told us, “The staff are empathetic towards people. I can see they want to help people who are agitated and want to make sure people are ok.”

We did not look at Workforce wellbeing and enablement during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.