Washington 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 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 treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. People and relatives told us staff were kind and considerate. A person said, “They are courteous to me, and I am courteous to them. I have a lot of faith in them.” A relative said, “[Nurse] was very good to [family member] when they first came in. The [nurse] is lovely.”

The provider did not always treat people as individuals or make sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. They did not always take account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics. People and relatives commented on the high use of agency staff, which impacted on people’s care. A relative said, “They get a lot of temporary staff in who don’t really talk much.” There were mixed interactions between people and staff, with staff spending considerable amounts of time filling in paperwork. A staff member said, “Staff are so preoccupied trying to fill in paperwork.”

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. Relatives were welcomed and involved in aspects of the home, such as supporting their family members at mealtimes. A person said, “I go out with my brother and sister.” A relative said, “They have been good to [family member] and they have been good to me.” People had opportunities to participate in activities, if they chose to. A person said, “There are plenty of activities, but I don’t want to do them.”

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. There were sufficient staff deployed to respond to people’s needs. A relative said, “The staff come quickly if you need them.”

The provider did not always promote the wellbeing of their staff. They did not always support or enable staff to deliver person-centred care. Staff told us their ability to provide person-centred care was restricted due to the excessive amounts of paperwork they had to complete. A staff member said, “The paperwork is far too much. You are trying to complete all your personal care whilst panicking about the paperwork.”