La Fontana

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.

Staff were exceptional at treating people with kindness, compassion and respect and at promoting people’s privacy and dignity.

Relationships between staff and people were warm, trusting and caring, and staff took time to engage with people in a meaningful and patient way. One person said, “The staff are just wonderful. If there's anything that I need, the staff get me anything I want. They always say, don’t worry, I'll get that for you. They are just so lovely.”

Relatives consistently provided positive feedback and described staff as kind, respectful and attentive. Comments included: “Lovely staff look after [name] in the best way possible”, “Every member of staff I have come across has been kind, caring, helpful, thoughtful and patient. [Name] is always cared for with kindness and dignity” and “All of the staff here are so lovely. They are all really kind and good with the people here. Staff also look after us too as [we don’t live locally] so don't really know the area. The staff say if we are taking mum out try here as it's nice or this nice café. It really helps us find nice places to take mum.”

We saw so many caring, patient, respectful interactions between people and staff. Staff knew people well and understood what mattered to them, which supported a calm and caring atmosphere. People’s privacy and dignity were respected, and staff demonstrated a strong commitment to person-centred, compassionate care that had been actively reinforced through training, meetings and manager’s daily walkarounds.

Staff always treated people as individuals and took account of their needs, preferences and personal histories.

People’s care plans included details about what was important to each person. This included how they wished to be addressed, their sexuality, communication needs, their faith or spiritual beliefs and their culture. These were all known to staff.

Staff told us about the importance of treating people as individuals. Staff focused on person-centred care, respect for each individual and the importance of providing emotional support. Improving staff culture, interaction and person-centred care had been focused upon by the provider. This had been emphasised in meetings, within training and monitored at daily manager’s walk arounds. It was evident this had been successful.

Relatives told us staff knew people well and involved them, and those close to them, in decisions about care and support. The planned care reviews would help to further personalise support going forward.

People’s independence, privacy and dignity were respected, and people could choose to take part in activities. However, it was acknowledged that opportunities to promote independence and engagement needed to improve further.

There were both group and individual activities/events which people could choose to take part in. During our visits a singer came in to entertain people and staff also spent time with people to engage them in activities. One staff member said, “There are planned activities and there's an activity later today with a musician coming in to entertain people. In between these times, when it's quieter, we do spend time with people on a 1 to 1 basis and try and engage them in different activities or just to sit and spend time with them or read to them.”

It was acknowledged this was an area which the provider wished to improve upon so people had a wider range of activities to choose from. In addition, a summer garden party was being organised as were weekly family barbecues. New activity staff had been recruited who would lead on this work.

It was also noted the environment needed to be more 'dementia friendly' to ‘support orientation, people's independence and engagement’. Plans were in place to install 'dementia friendly' signage, visual prompts, tactile objects and meaningful displays to support this.

The provider responded to people’s immediate needs and took concerns seriously. People and relatives told us staff responded quickly to call bells and requests for assistance, and staff knew who to contact when people needed urgent help or additional support.

Feedback and concerns raised by people and relatives were listened to and acted upon, with reasonable adjustments made to improve people’s care and experience. The service worked collaboratively with other professionals to ensure people’s needs were met promptly, which helped reduce delays and supported continuity of care.

The provider supported workforce wellbeing and enabled staff to deliver good quality care.

Staff told us morale, teamwork and communication had improved significantly in recent months, and they felt valued, listened to and well supported. There was evidence of improved staff engagement, supervision, training and opportunities for staff development, which helped staff feel confident in their roles.

Comments from staff included: “Overall, I think it's a good home. If you'd have come last year, I think staff would have said that it wasn't a very good place to be. We do talk as a staff team, and all the staff now agree that things are much better.” “It's getting much better here. It's been so much better since [the acting manager] has been here overseeing the home.” “[The acting manager] is brilliant, much better teamwork across the team now.”

The whole management team, including senior managers, were described as “accessible and supportive”, with an ‘open door’ policy. Staff said they would recommend La Fontana as a good place to work.

This positive culture supported continuity of care and helped staff provide consistent, compassionate support to people.