Bowes House

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 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 and visitors were complimentary regarding the staff at Bowes House. They told us staff were, “Kind”, “Respectful” and demonstrated “Empathy and compassion.”

We did however identify that people’s dignity was not consistently promoted. For example, we asked staff to consider the position of peoples attached urinary equipment as this may impact on people’s dignity and this was immediately actioned.

The ethos of the service was to ensure everyone was treated fairly and equally. This was supported by up to date care records. Staff were seen to be kind and supportive to each other and told us they worked well as a team and valued their colleagues.

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.

Staff demonstrated a good understanding of people's individual needs, preferences, interests and routines. They used information gathered from people, relatives and those who knew them well to personalise support. People's cultural, religious, sensory and communication needs were recognised and respected.

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

Staff told us they considered people’s lifestyle choices and respected those choices. One staff member said, “We get to know who needs encouragement to remain independent, so we try to support in a way that is not ‘telling’ them, it gets a better response.” Visitors told us, “They do a good job, especially the activities, they get them to events, encourage them to participate, my relative can’t now leave their room, but they come to them.”

We saw that staff knew people and their life histories very well and understood their likes and dislikes. Care plans were specific to each person and there were policies that put people at the centre of their care and treated them as individuals. People’s electronic care plans were up to date, personalised and contained detailed information about their strengths, weaknesses likes and dislikes, and how they preferred staff to meet their care needs and wishes. These were updated regularly and when people’s needs changed.

Care plans also reflected people's choices and preferences and information on how staff can support people to make informed choices. For example, using written or pictorial aids. Care records reflected people’s communication needs so staff understood how to provide people with information and how people communicated their choices and preferences. Care plans were also printed off monthly and kept in the staff offices in case of internet failure. Inside each person’s bedroom there was a short summary of important information regarding that person to assist new staff and visitors in approaching them.

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 received timely, responsive care whenever their needs changed or when they required immediate assistance. Staff quickly recognised changing needs and acted promptly to keep people safe. Relatives confirmed they were informed following any incidents or changes, with staff taking prompt action.

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

There had been staff changes over the past few months, so staff we spoke to were in the first few months of employment, as were the registered and deputy manager. Staff described feeling supported, listened to and valued by leaders. They felt able to speak up, share ideas and seek advice when required and spoke positively about the support they received from managers and colleagues. They also spoke of the support from colleagues when they first started work.

Staff had access to training, supervision and well-being support. Comments from staff included, “I do feel well supported, there has been a lot of change but the manager supports us through these changes. I have raised a few things and was listened to and action was taken,” and “I think it a really good place to work, there are lots of opportunities to learn and staff all share their expertise.