The Swallows

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

Responsive – this means we looked for evidence that the service met people’s needs.

The last rating for this key question was good. At this assessment the rating has remained good.

This meant people’s needs were met through good organisation and delivery.

This service scored 68 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People and their relatives told us their needs were met. Relatives explained their loved ones received good support with all daily activities and at mealtimes. One relative commented, “I’m very pleased with how [loved one] is being looked after. The staff are very, very good and when I visit [loved one] is looking well.” Another relative told us, “All the staff understand [loved one] well and are very good at calming [loved one] when anxious.” Staff we spoke with knew people well including their individual preferences, wishes and personalities. Staff demonstrated a good understanding of people’s individual diverse needs.

However, people’s care plans were not always person centred or reflected their individual preferences, life histories and wishes.

Staff worked well with health and social care professionals to ensure people received joined up care provision and continuity. Health and social care professionals visited the service on a regular basis to discuss and respond to people’s care and support needs.

People and their relatives were provided with information about the service and other services they could access in formats that met their needs. For example, we saw information about activities, and mealtime menus was provided in large print. A manager told us information could be provided to people in large print, audio formats and translated into different languages if required.

People and their relatives were encouraged and supported to contribute their views about the service. We saw a relative’s survey completed May 2025. This indicated that relatives were satisfied with the service provided. Comments from people included, ‘amazing place and staff’ and ‘needs decorating.’

We saw a ‘you said we did’ board displayed for people. People asked for hot food and more activities. The provider said all hot food will be served on hot plates to help retain the heat once plated and a review of all activities would be undertaken with people’s input, once completed these would be provided in a pictorial format. During our assessment we noted the weekly activities plan had been printed in a pictorial format to aid better communication for some people.

We saw a ‘you said we did’ board displayed for relatives. Relatives said at times they struggled to get through on the phone at weekends. Some relatives did not know who the owner was. The provider said we have heard your request and a meet the team poster would be put on display including the owner. The area manager told us this would be done at the end of the month.

People were supported to access services within and outside of the service. We observed that staff ensured people were able to reach items such as drinks and call bells should they need them. Staff supported people to understand information and to make choices, for example, weather appropriate clothing and activities to participate in.

Staff supported people to access health and social care appointments and helped advocate on people’s behalf when needed. For example, when speaking with health and social care professionals. A GP visited the service every week or when needed to ensure people’s medical needs were met.

The provider had policies and procedures in place to help promote equality and diversity. However, we found that not all staff had received training on equality and diversity or on the MCA. During our assessment the area manager showed us that equality and diversity and the MCA training had been included into the providers training plans and staff were due to undertake the training.

Care plans were not always detailed and did not always included information about people’s diverse needs, language, culture, sexuality and disabilities. However, people and their relatives told us their diverse needs and preferences were respected and met.

The provider helped people to plan for the future. People were cared for and supported at the end of their lives. Staff worked closely with health and social care professionals to ensure they knew how to provide dignified, comfortable and pain free care whenever possible.