Birch Hall Care Centre

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 service 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. However, the service was in breach of legal regulation in relation to person-centred care.

This service scored 65 (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 did not always treat people with kindness, empathy and compassion, or respect their privacy and dignity.

We observed some kind, caring interactions taking place, but this was not consistent across all areas of the service. For example, staff did not always engage with people in communal areas, another person appeared distressed that was not acted on in a timely manner by the staff team and 1 person was seen chatting to a staff member, but staff failed to act promptly on a concern they had raised. However, we saw a senior manager engaging well with a person and their relative about their needs. The management told us they were committed to, promoting equality, diversity and human rights by ensuring every person was treated fairly, with dignity and respect.

People and relatives were positive about the kindness and compassion of the staff team. They said, “We are very pleased with the home overall the care is very good” and, “Yes, the staff are nice to me.” Partners were complementary about the service and the care people received. One said, “Residents appear happy, comfortable, and well cared for.”

Staff understood how to maintain people’s dignity and supporting care needs. They said, “We always knock on people’s doors before personal care because not everyone understands. People are treated well and looked after” and, “Residents are looked after, we have had training in dignity and privacy.”

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.

Care records included information about people’s individual needs, but not all were up to date to reflect people’s current needs. Daily records were completed but the electronic system showed that some tasks were out of date. We discussed with the management the reasons for this, they assured us the individual care tasks had been undertaken.

We discussed with the manager the need to ensure the service thought about signage to rooms, communal areas and bathroom that would support people living in the service with their needs and promote independence. People said they were supported with their needs and received good care. Staff told us, “I respect people’s choices, routines, cultural, religious and personal preferences, which are documented in care plans.”

Information to support people to access advocacy services was available if people required support with important decisions. Guidance and training was provided to the staff team to ensure people were empowered and supported with decisions about their lives.

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

A programme of activities was in place with photographs of activities undertaken by people were seen. Where activities were taking place these were positively received and we saw people were engaging in these such as dancing along to films, art work, music and board games. We saw evidence of the local school and toddlers regularly visiting the service along with a pet farm with an array of pets including Alpacas. It was clear all people enjoyed these activities. The service had been decorated to celebrate the world cup. However, people looked bored and lacked engagement in a meaningful life, activities were not always tailored to all of the people. We discussed with the management how they planned to ensure all people living at Brich Hall Care Centre received meaningful activities and choice in their day to day life regardless of their needs.

People and relatives told us they were offered choices and control. One person told us about the plans to support them with mobility providing more independence around the service. People fed back that access to communal activities was restricted, another person discussed how they would benefit from staff, “Who are computer literate to give alternative sources of entertainment.” Staff talked about how to support people with choice and told us they provided activities to people. They said, “I encourage independence by allowing people to do as much as they can themselves” and, “Maintaining independence is important for confidence and wellbeing.”

Staff did not always respond to people’s needs in the moment or act to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. The provider listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes.

We saw that not all buzzers were answered in a timely manner. Some people fedback they were waiting for long periods for buzzers to be answered. The manger told us they would increase checks on call bells and take action on any identified delays in staff responding to these. Staff were visible in communal areas and supporting and engaging with people nicely. But not all areas maintained a consistent staff team. One unit was left unsupervised at times meaning people would be unable to seek help as they needed. Where staff were available in this unit limited interactions were taking place between people and staff.

People and relatives told us the staff supported them and responded to their needs. They told us, “I can't complain about the care I get I have everything I need” and, “If I want anything they bring it to you.” Staff knew the importance how they met all people’s needs and providing care and support. One told us, “I encourage residents to do as much as they can for themselves while providing support where needed.”

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care.

Most staff told us they were supported and felt valued by the management. Comments included, “I feel supported by my colleagues and management. Although the workload can sometimes be busy, everyone works together to provide the best possible care” and, “I feel looked after, manager is really nice, any problems they sort it out straight away.” The manager told us they had an open door policy and was accessible to the staff team.

There was evidence of staff supervisions taking place and the training matrix confirmed staff had undertaken training and the topics they had completed. A range of information and guidance was on display to support the staff in are delivery.