Ashley Grange Nursing Home

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 requires improvement. At this assessment the rating has changed to good. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

This service scored 75 (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.

People and relatives told us staff had a caring approach. Comments from people and relatives about the staff included, “The staff are excellent, I have got no complaints whatsoever. If I ask them to do anything they will do it, nothing is too much trouble from the top down” and “I have to congratulate the staff. Both day and night staff are good, they are very friendly. From the manager to the bloke sweeping the floor, they are all the same and they all have got time for you, time to listen to you. I can’t praise it highly enough.”

We observed staff were kind and compassionate in their delivery of care. They demonstrated they knew people well and had an understanding of people’s communication needs. We did see some support being provided which did not promote privacy. We shared this with the registered manager who told us they would review how this support was provided in the future.

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 had access to a range of information about people’s needs. This included life history, physical, mental, social and any cultural needs. There was a ‘resident of the day’ process which enabled staff to check on people’s individual likes, dislikes and preferences for their care.

We observed a church service was held during our inspection. People were able to attend with support from staff. On this occasion the service included singing of Christmas carols which people enjoyed.

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

People had choices in all aspects of their lives. For example, people chose where they wanted to spend time, what activities they wanted to join and what to eat and drink. Staff promoted independence by supporting people to do as much as they could themselves. For example, we observed staff taking time to encourage people to stand unassisted before stepping in to provide support when people showed signs of struggle.

People could have visits from friends and family members at any time. The service planned regular social events and invited families to join in. Activities staff were employed who organised a range of activities and events for people. This included trips out into the local community, pub evenings, arts and crafts and musical entertainment.

People and relatives shared positive feedback about activities staff and the range of activities on offer for people. Comments included, “I love it when the dogs come into the home, they bring the puppy to my room, and he sits on my bed. It cheers me up so much”, “The entertainment is good, and staff always encourage people to join in” and “There is a good variety of entertainment. We have singers, crafts, pub nights, there is always something.”

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.

Staff responded to people’s calls for assistance in a timely way. People had call bells in their rooms, and we found these were answered within a few minutes. If people were experiencing distress, staff were compassionate and offered reassurance.

We did find some entries in daily notes which were conflicting when recording some distress. We found staff had recorded people were distressed and content in the same entry. This was conflicting and did not provide an accurate record of events. We shared this feedback with the registered manager who said they would work with staff to improve record keeping.

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

The provider had systems available for staff to obtain support for their health and wellbeing. Staff had access to a free telephone helpline service which they could use to get support for many different areas including wellbeing. Free counselling could be provided, and the provider could offer reasonable adjustments to working patterns where appropriate and possible.