St George's 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 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 70 (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 supported by staff who respected their privacy and dignity. Most people felt supported by staff who were kind, empathic and compassionate. Where people raised with us during the inspection areas they were not happy with, we shared this with the registered manager.

People and relatives told us staff are lovely, polite and kind. One person told us, “It’s very good here, people and everything. The staff are good to you, they know me well”. Another person told us, “The staff are so lovely and polite”. One relative told us, “The staff are fine”. We observed staff and the management team talking to people and asking them how they were. Where we received some feedback that was not positive about people’s care and support, we raised this with the registered manager so they could follow this up as needed.

Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity. We observed staff closing people’s doors to give privacy as needed. Staff gave examples of closing people’s curtains to provide them with privacy whilst providing personal care and they confirmed they gained their consent before they supported them with their personal care.

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. However, some improvements were required to ensure care planning explored all possible protected characteristics.

People’s care plans contained important information about the person’s individual needs. This included if the person had a religion, their gender and other individual preferences such as a preferred name. However, some improvements could be made to exploring all protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 and this information being included within people’s care plans.

The registered manager, and senior staff knew people well and staff confirmed they respected people’s individual needs and wishes.

The provider held various religious, cultural and celebratory events within the service. For example, this included celebrating, Diwali and Onam festivals, traditions from Romania, dancing and clothing traditions from India, Caribbean and the Chinese New Year.

The provider was exceptional at promoting people's independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

Staff gave examples of how they promoted people’s independence and choice. Such as encouraging people to choose what to wear, what meal they might like and brushing their own teeth.

We observed people spending time in their rooms, communal areas, and accessing the community with visitors and family members.

People could access a range of different activities within the service. This included themed food tasting, sporting events, gardening activities, festive events, religious events, and people were supported with a diverse range of bespoke activities unique to them. This included having books and newspapers read to them, going to religious events and clubs and being supported to attend a school where they used to teach.

People were supported to attend community and family events and the activities co-ordinator spoke of various future activities they hoped to implement such as having a barber visit and where people could hold their own religious event. People were observed participating in various activities during our inspection.

The registered manager and staff supported people to maximise their potential within the service. They gave an example where 1 person had returned home needing less assistance because they had gained more independence whilst within the service.

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

We observed staff were responsive to people’s needs within the communal areas of the service. However, we were not always assured people’s individual needs were being met when they were in their own rooms or other areas of the service when they used their call bells. People and their relatives raised with us mixed feedback about whether staff were always available when needed. This included when they used their call bells and when people needed assistance due to their dementia. We shared this feedback with the registered manager so they could review and take any action needed following this. The registered manager confirmed they completed regular call bell audits, and they reviewed any changes to people’s individual needs and if call bells had not been answered in a timely way they checked why this might be.

One health professional confirmed the team were proactive in making health referrals to other health professionals when they have identified a need. Although another confirmed staff could benefit from knowing people’s individual needs and care planning information. We observed during our inspection people could benefit from staff checking if they needed any assistance with their meal, if they were happy with their meal and if they wanted anything else to eat or drink. We raised this with the registered manager so they could review this.

The provider following our inspection confirmed they completed monthly quality assurance checks to ensure people had adequate access to drinks and snacks.

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

Staff spoke positively about the support provided to them by the registered manager and senior staff. One staff member told us, “(Name of registered manager) is available as and when needed. So is the nurse”. Another member of staff told us, “I like working here”.

Daily handover meetings were held between staff starting and finishing their shifts, there was also daily clinical meetings and weekly meetings for staff. The registered manager also had staff meetings every 2 months which was an opportunity to discuss the running of the service rather than any daily changes to people’s individual needs.