Archived: Westwood

Although most of the people we met had limited verbal communication they appeared confident and settled and enjoyed a good rapport with staff. Staff showed a good knowledge of people's needs and how to meet them. Three people who lived at the home greeted us and interacted with us once they felt confident with a new and unfamiliar face.

After our visit, we spoke with one relative who had previously raised concerns about the service. They told us they were very happy with the way the service had improved and sustained that improvement. 'More than happy, they have turned around the service,' they said to us.

We spoke with four staff and the manager of the service. We observed interactions and spoke with four people who lived at the home. We also spoke by phone with two relatives of people who lived at the home. The most frequent word we heard from people was 'improvement'. One staff told us that things had 'really, really improved' since the new owners had taken over and a new manager had been put in place.

Relatives we spoke with showed concern at the service being offered earlier in the year, but felt that it had greatly improved recently. One relative said that 'finally we have the sort of service we'd envisaged years ago'. They said they 'can't praise it enough' and hoped the improvements would continue and be maintained.

Staff who had been with the service for several years told us they felt that there were now sufficient staff to offer consistent, one-to-one support to people. We saw that people were being taken out regularly to take part in activities, and that this was having a positive effect on people's well-being.