Highbury Residential Home

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• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

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 80 (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 saw positive interactions between staff and people, and staff took their time to reassure people and spend time with those who required more intense interaction.

People chose where they spent their time, and we observed staff respected people’s right to privacy. People told us staff were very helpful and kind. One person told us, “In the morning they help me choose an outfit. Something suitable for the day. They always make me feel well presented.”

Relatives confirmed staff were respectful and treated their loved ones with kindness, dignity and compassion. Comments included, “Nothing seems too much for them. Whenever we visit [Name] always looks fresh and has clean clothes on. The staff are always lovely towards [Name].” And “The staff are always very polite towards my relative and [Name] likes all their carer’s. The staff are all lovely, [Name] has settled there well, they look after them very well.”

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 knew people’s likes and dislikes and planned activities to suit individual needs and personalities. For example, staff interacted with people based on their individuality, personal interests and communication preferences. Some people went out regularly to the local shops, church groups and scrabble clubs as staff understood this was important to them. We observed personalised interactions between people and staff throughout this inspection.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. People confirmed they made choices about their care and support. One person told us, “The days are always different, if I fancy staying in my room the staff will bring my food and drinks up to me. If I ask staff for something, nothing is too much trouble.” We observed people discussing their care and support options with staff, based on their preferences of where and when they would like their medicines and breakfast to be served.

Relatives also told us their loved ones were supported with their choices. One relative said, “There is no strict routine there, if [Name] prefers to lie in bed in the morning they let them. Staff are generally very attentive, there’s always someone there if they need them, whatever they decide to do.”

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 respond to people immediately throughout the inspection. Staff were alert to changes in people’s moods and emotions. For example, one person was becoming distressed during lunch at the dining table. Staff immediately responded with reassurance and offered the person a choice to move into a quiet area of the home to have their meal.

Daily handover meetings were held to help ensure staff were up to date with any changes in people’s needs and their emotional well-being.

Relatives confirmed people’s health and well-being was addressed timely by staff teams and appropriate support was sought to ensure the person remained well. One relative said, “[Name] was sick and had an infection, they got her treated immediately plus they called in a physio to support with mobility. I am a retired nurse and I’ve been impressed by how quickly they respond to changes in [Name] needs.”

The provider always cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and was exceptional at supporting and enabling staff to always deliver person-centred care. The registered manager had introduced an in-house bespoke training programme specifically for senior staff, which focused on up-skilling and developing existing knowledge and ensuring all senior staff were working within their roles and responsibilities. Training included compliance, incident management and reporting, auditing and medicine management. On the day of the inspection, we observed a senior development workshop being undertaken by the Deputy manager, with a focus on effective care planning reviews.

Staff described a culture that was respectful of diversity and created positive teamwork. They told us the registered manager was supportive and approachable and always supporting the team to develop their skills and knowledge. Staff told us the manager ensured all cultural celebrations were considered and staff were welcome to contribute to a preferred shift rota during times of individual religious and cultural celebrations. Other comments included, “The manager changed the shift times to ensure we can get here on time and leave on time to get back to our families. Before we were running late or missed public transport. Most staff must get the train or bus to the home. It’s made a huge difference for all of us, a better work life balance.” And “We are always developing here; the manager is supporting us all the time to improve and ensures we have good wellbeing in our roles.”