Windmill 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 requires improvement. At this assessment the rating has changed to 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.

We observed staff to treat everyone equally, place great importance on building meaningful relationships with people and their relatives to support them at all stages of their care journey. We observed staff to use people’s preferred names, with details around individual preferences and protected characteristics reflected in their care records. Staff protected people’s privacy and dignity, and ensured people maintained consistent standards of personal presentation. Our findings were supported by relative’s feedback, a relative told us, “The staff are incredible, all so kind.”

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.

People’s care records contained detailed information relating to protected characteristics, particularly their sexuality. People’s wishes and preferences were reflected in the care provided, and people and their relatives were encouraged to give staff and leaders feedback. People were encouraged to maintain and develop hobbies and interests, with staff demonstrating a clear recognition of the importance of meaningful activity in maintaining people’s individuality, particularly for those people living with dementia.

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

People and their relatives were actively encouraged to give feedback and contribute to the planning of their own care and the wider running of the service. Regular meetings were in place to plan the activity schedule for the service, contribute to menu planning, and events within the service. Staff encouraged people to be as independent as possible and supported them to have choice and control over their daily routines. People’s relatives told us if they were unable to attend a meeting, minutes were sent out to them, which contained detailed information. Relatives gave positive feedback about the fact their loved ones could also attend relative meetings if they wished to, as they felt it was important for everyone to be included.

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 to respond quickly to call bells when activated and offer timely support to people if upset or showing signs of distress. Staff were present within communal areas and completed regular checks of people when spending time in their bedrooms. We received positive feedback from the GP in relation to the prompt responses staff took to any changes in people’s medical presentations to ensure timely intervention was sourced.

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 leaders within the service, particularly the current registered manager. Morale had improved since our last inspection, having a positive impact on working conditions for staff, which resulted in positive care outcomes for people living at the service. Staff told us they felt able to speak up, and contribute ideas and feedback at meetings, and during supervision sessions without any fear of reprisals. We observed staff and leaders worked as a cohesive team; this was a significant improvement on previous inspection findings.