Avondale Castlemount Lodge

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 85 (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 was exceptional at treating people with kindness, empathy and compassion and in how they respected people’s privacy and dignity.

The service had fostered a culture that was underpinned by kindness, trust and respect at levels and where people felt accepted, listened to that treated with compassion. During our inspection we saw people were comfortable in using the service as their own home, including taking part in activities, socialising with their peers and going out into the wider community. We saw extremley caring interactions where staff demonstrated care and compassion, talked to people about their day and helped them participate in daily life on their own terms. For example, one person explained to staff that they were going out, and a staff member encouraged them to wear a waterproof coat as it was raining and made sure they had their bus pass. Another person had recently been experiencing difficulties with their mental health and was not at the service during our visit. However, we heard the manager talking to them over the phone and did so with particular sensitivity and compassion. They spoke to the person gently, showing tact and reassurance to make a safe and collaborative plan with them over the phone about how staff would support them return to the home.

Staff were passionate about the people they supported and brought their own skills and interests to their job. For example, one member of staff was a musician, and had arranged music therapy sessions for people to support with their mental health. We heard people talk about how much they enjoyed these during our visit. People had close and trusted bonds with staff and one person shared with us a video thanking a particular member of staff for how they had supported them through recent challenges. They stated, “I just want to recognise you are an amazing support worker. You are kind, caring and respectful”.

The systems at the service focused on people’s wellbeing, with detailed plans of how people would be enabled to explore their own mental health in a way that was safe and personalised to them. This includes regular focused sessions and use of creative resources to explore people’s emotions and recognise steps people had taken in developing resilience and personal life skills. One person told us, “Staff help me work on my strengths and what is going well. They support me in coming up with coping mechanisms if feeling low in myself. I now trust people which is huge for me”. A relative added, “Staff are really good. They helped my love one progress with the things they want to do”.

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.

There was a strong focus on people’s strengths at the service, and the staff respected the unique backgrounds, interests and passions of the people they supported. Where people had relationships that were important to them, they were supported to maintain these by staff and manage them safely. Where people had a faith, they were supported to explore this and that it was reflected in their care.

Some people lacked confidence in their own self-image or appearance and were being supported by staff using curated resources. For example, one person was experiencing hair loss and staff at worked with them to create a journal to record what their hair meant to them and strategies to help promote healthy hair. Another person was exploring a similar task through discussing and exploring which areas of their body they would like to feel more confident about.

The service had recently created a “Growth Tree” in the communal area, which was designed by the people living at Castlemount, and would be used to add leaves reflecting people’s own progress with their mental health, growth and resilience. For example, one person had recently added a leaf reflecting their pride in booking and attending a health appointment independently. A staff member explained, “The tree was created by (person name) alongside staff, and we went shopping for supplies together. It’s all about putting people’s achievements and progress in their own words, rather than ours”.

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

People were involved as active partners in their own care, which was regularly reviewed to ensure it was delivered in the least restrictive way possible. Clear goals were worked towards alongside people to help them have maximum independence and build life skills that gave them increased confidence in themselves. Everybody living at the service could come and go freely without difficult, and some people regularly stayed with family or partners which helped them work towards a goal of living independently. All people were supported to set up email addresses which allowed them to have control over their own communications including with partner agencies involved in their care. One person was working towards a goal of being supported to set up online banking to give them the ability to manage their own finances in a safe and accessible way.

We identified some posters displayed referring to “House Rules” including around visiting and consumption of alcohol, however when we spoke to people and their relatives we were assured that people were not being restricted in these areas. However, the lounge area was sometimes closed at night after cleaning which we advised was not appropriate. After we raised this, the service worked alongside people to rework these into “Living Well Together Agreements”, which were designed in partnership with people about how they would like each other to respect the space they lived together in.

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.

The was clear guidance on how staff should respond if people were to require additional help due to a decline in their physical or mental health, and feedback from other professionals was that the staff team were very responsive to people’s changing needs. This included taking action to promote people’s dignity and respect at all times. People had recently undertaken work as part of Dignity Awareness Month to record what was important to them with how they wished to be treated. One visiting professional told us, “Sometimes the person I support can put themselves in an undignified position. But staff always manage this appropriately. I can’t fault staff, I’ve nothing bad to say about this home, I’ve not met any unfriendly staff, all are welcoming and friendly”.

We observed where people required support, staff were responsive and had the time to have open and respectful conversations with them. Staff felt empowered with the time to get to know people, to allow them to respond appropriately if they needed support. A staff member told us, “The best thing about working here is being able to work with the residents. I feel free to get to know them and know who they are”.

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.

Staff we spoke to were universally positive about working at the service, and felt empowered, supported, and listened to in their role. Where people had challenges in their own personal circumstances, they told us they were treated with kindness and respect and that the managers would work with them to support them. One staff member told us, “We have an amazing team, the best team I have worked with. There is plenty of time to focus on our own wellbeing and development, and we can ask for support at any time. They have been so supportive around my personal circumstances”. Other staff told us about past difficulties in their own personal lives, including around mental health, and told us that working for the service had helped grow their own confidence, and enabled them to use their own personal experience to support the people they worked with.

Leaders recognised the emotional impact of supporting people with often complex mental health needs, and there were robust wellbeing protocols in place such as debriefs, welfare packages and the ability for people to take wellbeing days if they needed to. Shift patterns had also recently been reduced from 5 days a week to 4 to give staff more time away from the service to protect their own wellbeing and take part in other things that were meaningful to them. Staff spoke with confidence about feeling safe working at the service and that their wellbeing was important. One staff member explained, “I really enjoy working here. You can’t take care of other people, if can’t take of yourself. We take a person-centred care approach, so I have the time to get to know people and what matters to them”.