Richmond Village Aston On Trent Care 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 outstanding. This meant people were truly respected and valued as individuals; and empowered as partners in their care in an exceptional service.

This service scored 90 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People were treated with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. The culture of kindness and care extended to people’s relatives and visitors. This was reflected in the extremely positive feedback we received. One person told us, “[It’s] just a lovely home. [Staff] are very caring and kind.” Another said, “My overall impression is that the care staff are lovely and caring, gentle as well.” People told us the staff were kind and caring, sharing specific staff members they wished to thank for their kindness. Feedback included, “I feel happy living here. I feel well looked after by all the staff from the nurses to activities team.” And “I would like to thank the staff, nurses and activities they are wonderful and my relative is very lucky to have found such a home away from home.”

Staff were observed to treat people with empathy and had built warm and caring relationships with people. We saw staff give people hugs and appropriate affection where needed. One person told us, “[Staff member] gave me a big hug when I was feeling down.” Another relative said, “They are cheerful and keep [person’s] spirits up. It’s emotional support as well as physical.” Staff included people in discussions and showed genuine interest in people. They used people’s preferred names and clearly knew people and their interests well. For example, during our inspection, we observed a staff member sit with one person watching planes fly by and using a flight tracker to talk about the planes as they knew this linked in with the person’s previous career. One staff asked a person how they were getting on with a puzzle and asked to see. Staff asked people about their families, visitors and trips out. Staff went the extra mile to celebrate special moments for couples with small romantic gestures.

Staff were motivated to provide compassionate care. One staff member told us, “We want to deliver the best care and to always give best quality of life.” Staff promoted people’s privacy and dignity at all times.

We did not look at Treating people as individuals during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

The provider was exceptional at promoting people’s independence, relationships, health and wellbeing through a wide range of accessible facilities and activities. People had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

There was a comprehensive 7 day a week activities programme, created with people by a dedicated in-house activities team. Activities included external entertainers, such as local choirs, inter-generational activities with local schools, animal experiences and gentle exercise classes. Other activities included, games, walking groups, bingo, music, learning new skills and daily newspapers delivered to bedrooms.

A diverse range of cultural events were celebrated, such as victory in Europe day and more niche events, such as ‘Beatles day’ were creatively commemorated. The activities team worked closely with the local community, and the service was involved in events such as the village well dressing, and scarecrow trail. Larger events, such as a summer fayre and themed dinner nights were also organised.

The provider worked with people to learn and maintain their hobbies and socialise with people with similar interests. A mobile library initiative was developed to bring together people who enjoyed reading. One person who loved the idea was asked to be the librarian and provided with a badge with their new job title. One person told us, “I have made great friends here and really enjoy my life here.”

We received extremely positive feedback from people and relatives on the wide range of activities, and the support to encourage people and their loved ones to get involved. Feedback included, “There's an amazing, wonderful team of activities people. Everything is well planned and thought out. As a family we are encouraged to go along.” And “[Relative] loves the activities, [Relative] has memory problems so is unable to partake in some things, but loves being entertained.” And “[Relative] loves it when singers come in especially when there was a primary school choir, they loved that. They also enjoyed a visit from visiting animals.”

People had access to a range of on-site facilities. This included a spa, swimming pool, terraces, well-maintained gardens, clubhouse and restaurant.

People were supported to maintain relationships that were important to them. For example, spouses were supported to have ‘date nights.’ One relative told us, “On Friday nights before [person] became ill, we used to dress up and have a glass of bubbly. Sometimes I take them downstairs to the restaurant, so we still have our date night. [Person] loves it and gets the staff to dress them up in their favourite shirt.”

The service was set up to work collaboratively with the provider’s independent living, and assisted living services. This meant where people’s independence increased or decreased, they would be supported to move between services to ensure the support received was appropriate to their level of independence. One relative told us, “It’s very reassuring to me that if my loved one deteriorates, they won’t be sent away from there, just moved round to the most appropriate place for them to live.”

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.

During our inspection staff responded to people’s request for support promptly. Staff knew people well, and systems were in place to allow effective monitoring of people’s clinical needs and therefore signs and symptoms of any deterioration were picked up and acted on quickly.

People told us, “The staff are always smiling, and they know me so well that I feel like they can anticipate my needs even before I do.” And “Staff are always attentive when I need them.” Ancillary staff, such as activities staff, were also alert to changes in people’s needs. One member of staff told us, “We are always talking to the care team, sometimes we might notice changes before them and might ask to check for infection for example. We advocate for our residents.”

Systems were in place to oversee call-bells to ensure prompt responses to people’s requests for support, this included seeking feedback from people on response times. Where issues were raised about call bell response times, an in-depth analysis was carried out to explore reasons why, including actions to help alleviate anxieties. For example, using impact statements on how waiting for support can make a person feel and sharing this with staff.

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.

The provider had developed a ‘Love working here’ plan with the aim of creating a fun workplace, which looked after staff, supported career development and strong leadership. This included actions such as career conversations, departmental appreciation days, and the introduction of a ‘protecting our people’ policy to help staff feel safe at work.

Leaders were clearly proud of the staff who worked at the service and staff confirmed they felt valued and supported. Staff enjoyed their jobs. One staff member told us “The provider has a saying, #loveworkinghere and I truly do and so do many of the staff.” Another shared, “The provider did a video expressing how much we are wanted and what support we could get, such a lovely thing to do.” And one said, “Good training and support. Busy days but also fun.”

Systems were in place to support staff to speak up, such as a listening hour and an open-door policy. Staff told us they felt listened to. A ‘You said, We listened’ initiative was in place so staff could see how their feedback was being used to make changes.

Staff were proud of their successes. Good practice was celebrated which staff told us motivated them to do the best job possible. Following further training on monitoring systems, a staff member explained leaders would praise them for implementing the training effectively, telling us “We now eagerly anticipate the phone ringing to share how excellent our oversight has been or receiving a treat as a token of appreciation.”

Various benefits, incentives and rewards were in place to show staff appreciation. The provider held a staff day, which celebrated staff and their achievements but also provided opportunity for staff to bond and build friendships. Fun videos and slideshows were created to show staff how much they were valued by colleagues, leaders and people who used the service. Staff were able to nominate one another for providing excellent care. An internal social networking site was well used to recognise and thank staff for their efforts.