Neptune 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.

At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has changed to requires Improvement. This meant people did not always feel well-supported, cared for or treated with dignity and respect.

The service was in breach of the legal regulation in relation to dignity and respect.

This service scored 60 (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 did not always treat people with kindness, empathy and compassion, or respect their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

People’s privacy and dignity were not always respected; confidential information about people was not securely stored, some records were located in communal areas. We observed a video monitor in place which (at the time of the assessment) was viewing a person in their bedroom. Staff told us another person also has a video monitor in place when they were at the service. The video monitoring screens were located in a communal area where anyone could view them. This meant when they were spending time in their room, other people living at the service could see them. Audio monitors were also in place for other people, these were also in place in communal areas and it meant that anyone using the lounge or dining area could hear what people were doing in their rooms. We reported the concerns to the management team and they did not act to change this practice.

Despite this, we observed staff being kind to people. People told us, “All the staff are my favourite, they are kind”, “I am happy. There is nothing I don’t like” and “I like all staff, they are kind.” Relatives said, “Staff are generally caring and kind” and “Staff are very caring and kind, and seem to understand him and his needs very well.”

The provider did not always treat people as individuals or make sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. They did not always take account of people’s strengths, abilities, culture and unique backgrounds. Whilst we observed staff treating people as individuals during the assessment, we found that care and support records such as care plans and assessments used derogatory language (such as ‘obsessive’, ‘moody person’, ‘can be extremely rude’, ‘lazy’, ‘bossy’, ‘pinch boy’). The language described people in an unkind manner at times. People’s cultural and religious needs were not documented in care plans. Staff gave us mixed feedback about people’s religious or cultural needs. A staff member said, “No service users have religious needs. No one goes to church or eats certain food for religious reasons.” Another staff member told us, “[Person] likes to go to church on occasions, staff take her when she wants.”

People told us their birthdays were celebrated, 1 person told us they were having a party where they would be wearing their favourite dress.

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

Staff were able to describe what things people could do for themselves and when they needed support. We observed people doing things for themselves such as taking themselves to the toilet and getting dressed. Staff only supported people when required for example, supporting people to wash their hair. Staff shared how they supported people to do things for themselves and gave reassurance and time for people to remain independent. A staff member told us, “We support what people can do for themselves, build confidence, some are capable of doing their own personal care. Generally, they have a shower.” A person told us, “I clean my teeth, I’ve done them tonight after a drink.”

People were supported to go to use facilities in the local community. Staff explained people were supported to go out for beach walks, trips into the town to shop, eat, coffee shops and for activity events. A person was able to go out in the community independently and they did this with their friends. Some people went out with their family. There was a large secure garden at the service, where people could spend time when the weather was nice. The provider was in the process of replacing garden furniture to provide places for people to sit in the sun or shade.

People had varied activities they chose to do, some people had voluntary jobs in the community such as cafes and record shops, some people went to day services, some people had individual activities such as drama groups and horse riding. Some activities happened within the services such as a weekly exercise class, arts and craft and games. People chose to carry out activities which met their needs, such as listening to music, playing video games, watching tv, reading and knitting. We observed activities staff engaging people in activities, there was lots of laughter, chat and encouragement. For people who chose to stay in their rooms or did not like to participate in group activities staff told us they made time to go in and chat to people. A person said, “I spend time at home and I go out.” Another person said, “I would like to get out more, to go to the cinema, shops, restaurants and coffee shops, that is why I spoke to [registered manager] about it earlier.” A relative said, “Our son likes to go bowling, this is usually once a week outside of school holidays, he goes out for lunch and enjoys the company of other people who live in the home.” Some relatives raised that their loved ones liked bowling and said this activity had stopped and they were unsure why. A relative told us, “My son participates in lots of activities, he loves playing his keyboard, and once every 2 weeks a musician comes around to play music, my sons keyboard is brought down from his room as he becomes part of the band which is really special.”

People told us they were supported with maintaining contact with their friends and relatives. A person said, “I have a big family. Staff help me keep in contact with them, they visit me sometimes.” Relatives said, “We have a weekly telephone conversation with him, staff assist him with this. He is able to phone us whenever he likes”; “Every Sunday evening he telephones me, staff do the dialling to assist him” and “Staff do help her when she does phone me, and she seems generally happy and contented.”

People were supported to go on holiday. A person said, “I went on holiday last year, we stayed at a hotel. We will be having a holiday again this year, but it is too early to book it yet.” A relative said, “He went on a short break holiday last year, for a 2 or 3 night stay in a caravan, which he really enjoyed, we are hoping the same will happen this year.”

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. We observed staff responding to people’s needs in a timely manner. For example, a person became distressed and over excited, they began to cry and shout. Staff supported the person to go to a private place away from other people, talk about the problem and resolve this. The person was asked if they would like some of their prescribed medicine to help them, which they accepted. The person told us, “I had some medicines and I am feeling better because I had got upset. I am alright now.” We observed them giving one of their housemates a hug and saying thank you for worrying about them.

We observed staff responding to people’s needs physically, verbally and through use of cards as well as through Makaton sign language.

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 felt well supported by the 2 registered managers. The management team explained that there was a staff treat box scheme in place which was put in place each month. Staff had been asked if they wanted to have an employee of the month scheme to recognise staff who had excelled and the staff team had chosen the treat box instead to avoid possible conflict or competition with the staff. Staff had access to counselling and mental health support from their Human Resources provider. The registered managers told us they were responsive to requests around childcare and religious needs. For example, some staff worked set days to support with childcare, and a staff member had requested Christmas eve off to attend a midnight church service.