Brenalwood 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 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 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 how the staff were respectful and compassionate in their interactions. A person said, “Staff are kind, I like them all.” Another person commented, “The staff are alright with me, I have kindness shown, I feel a million dollars.” A relative said, “I find the staff very friendly and welcoming to me, very affectionate to [family member] and caring.” Another relative told us, “The love and care I see from the staff with the residents including my [family member] is so beautiful and reassuring to see.”

We observed caring interactions from staff. We saw a night staff member supporting a person with their breakfast, despite their shift finishing, the staff member continued to support the person at their own pace. Prior to a staff member sitting with a person, they asked for their permission, to which the person replied, “You can sit anywhere by me,” we saw them chatting and the person laughed and rubbed the staff member’s shoulder. They agreed on what the person wanted to do, and they played a board game.

We saw lots of reassuring touch between staff and people using the service and staff ensured they communicated effectively with people, for example kneeling down so they were at the person’s eye level. However, we did note an interaction which could have been improved, a person when they ate their meal had spilled some on the place mat, the staff member cleared this from the place mat and put it back onto the plate. This was neither respectful nor hygienic.

Staff meeting minutes in September 2025 reminded staff in how to provide people were caring and compassionate care, including respecting their privacy and dignity. A relative told us how the staff respected their privacy when they visited their family member, “Staff leave us in privacy, generally there is a nice atmosphere.”

Staff told us how they treated people with respect. A staff member said, “This is a home where residents, staff, families, and professionals are all treated with genuine respect and kindness. That’s why the relationships here are so strong.” Another staff member commented, “We always focus on good practice, with residents’ safety, health, and wellbeing at the centre of what we do. I’m proud to be part of this organisation. To me, it’s not just a workplace it’s a place of dignity, respect, and belonging for everyone.”

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.

A ‘resident of the day’ system was in place, where the person chose what they wanted to do for that day, including a specific place they wanted to go to or a meal they wanted.

Each person’s care plan included their life story, which identified their family, previous job roles and what they enjoyed doing. This provided staff with an understanding of the person. In addition, we saw a care plan which included information provided by a relative about their usual routines prior to moving into the service. Records demonstrated contact with people’s relatives had improved, this included keeping them updated in their family member’s wellbeing. A relative said, “The carers are so beautiful, the manager is wonderful, senior… all beautiful people, the care I see. They hold hands and sit down with them and listen to their stories and react and get involved with them.”

We observed staff supporting people to put on make-up which demonstrated their person centred needs and preferences were being respected. We saw some people had objects in front of them which they were interested in, and this was confirmed in their care plans.

There were no restrictions on relatives visiting their family members, during our assessment we saw several people having visits from their relatives. Relatives told us they were offered drinks when they visited and had the opportunity to eat a meal with their family members. The garden had been improved, and we saw photographs of people enjoying the garden such as having their meals outside in the better weather, entertaining their visitors and also planned activities in the garden to which relatives were invited. A relative told us, “We are coming Friday to have a meal in the garden.” We observed a staff member walking in the garden with a person who used the service.

A staff member told us, “The care we provide to each resident is more personalised and individually focused than ever before. We take the time to understand each resident’s preferences, needs, and life history to ensure they receive the best possible care.”

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

Since our last assessment, signage in the home had improved, including notices on bedroom doors to helped people independently navigate to their bedrooms. The bedroom doors had also been painted different colours, the registered manager told us people had chosen their bedroom door colour. People’s bedrooms were personalised and reflected their choice and individuality.

To support people to make choices of the clothes they wanted to wear, there were cards with pictures of clothing in people’s bedrooms. We observed people were being provided with support to put on their daily make up.

The registered manager told us people had a choice of foods at each meal; their choices were supported by the use of ‘show plates’. If people did not want what was on the menu they could have something else. This was confirmed by our observations, however, we noted gravy was put on people’s plates by the staff, this could be improved by asking the people how much gravy they wanted. A relative told us, “[Family member] loves [their] food, is very fussy but they give [family member] what [they] like, spoil [family member] rotten.”

There was a notice board in the service identifying the actions which had been taken as a result of people’s comments, this included the provision of more themed days, such as the upcoming ‘Western Day.’ We received feedback about the day where people received themed food and a visiting entertainer.

People chose when they went to bed and got up in the mornings. We saw records where a person had declined to go to bed when staff had offered and this was respected, they were assisted at a time when it suited them. A person told us they could have a shower when they wanted one and staff respected their choices.

People’s care plans identified the areas they could attend to independently and where they required support from staff, guidance for staff in the care plans and staff meeting minutes showed staff were promoting and respecting people’s independence. A person told us, “I make the best of myself as I must not lose my independence.” However, we identified in a person’s daily notes which indicated a person’s independence may have not been respected, we fed this back to the management team who assured us they would look into it and felt it may be a recording error.

A staff member told us, “[Registered manager] has emphasized the importance of actively engaging residents in their care planning, as well as in activities that promote their independence and mental stimulation. We have introduced more resident-led activities, and residents are encouraged to share their ideas for improving life at the home.”

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.

Since our last assessment, improvements had been made in how people and their representatives, where appropriate were involved in the planning of their care to ensure their views and wishes were respected. The registered manager had introduced call bell audits, this was to ensure people’s requests for assistance when using the call bell were responded to promptly. In addition, staff allocations had been introduced to ensure staff were deployed to meet people’s individual needs throughout each shift.

Staff were available when people required assistance, and any requests for help were attended to promptly. People received a positive and calm mealtime experience, people’s choices were respected and staff assisted people with their permission and at a pace which suited them. We observed a staff member bring a person’s spectacles to them from their room, the person said, “I am always forgetting them.”

During our assessment, we observed a person who had become distressed, whilst staff supported the person in a kind and compassionate way, this included calling in another staff member to support the person which demonstrated their commitment to the people using the service. There had been limited action taken to support the other people who were around, some who were upset by the incident. We were assured by discussions with the management team and reviewing the person’s records, this incident was unusual, and this would be considered in future planning. Staff had been provided in training to support people with behaviours that may challenge.

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

Without exception, staff told us how they felt supported in their role. A staff member said, “I am truly proud to be part of such a dedicated and hardworking team. Since [Registered manager’s] arrival, the working environment has greatly improved, and I feel motivated and supported in my role. The atmosphere at Brenalwood Care Home is positive, with a strong focus on mutual respect and care, and this directly translates to the high standard of care we provide for our residents.” Another staff member said, “Our dedicated management team, regional managers, and supportive head office staff work closely together to ensure that every resident receives the highest standard of care. Thanks to this strong leadership and collaboration, our team feels valued, well-supported, and motivated in our roles.”

Employee of the month had been introduced in April 2005, votes were made by staff and the employee of the month received a certificate and voucher.