Whitwood House

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. The last time this key question was assessed it was rated 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.

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.

Staff treated people with care, kindness and respect. Staff had developed positive relationships with people and supported them in a dignified way, maintaining their privacy. We observed positive interactions and people appeared to be relaxed and happy throughout the assessment. One relative told us, “[Name] is happy there.” Visiting professionals were welcomed into the service.

The provider treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care and support met their preferences. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

Records included people’s wishes, preferences, likes and dislikes. People’s communication needs were consistently met. Staff knew how to communicate with people in an individualised way. Choice was respected and people were supported to make choices. Some improvements were required to ensure care plans were consistently reviewed.

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

People consistently had the opportunity to participate in activities that were meaningful to them. For example, 1 person was making regular trips to the theatre, another person enjoyed going to the airport, and people had the opportunity to go on holidays. Links with the wider community had been established. The registered manager told us links had been made with local community groups so that people could be supported to make friends with people with shared interests. People were supported to be independent where possible and maximise opportunities available to them. For example, 1 person completed voluntary work. One relative told us, staff go “above and beyond” to support a person with their interests.

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.

Observations throughout the assessment showed people’s needs were responded to without delay. Staff understood the people they supported and acted quickly to reduce any distress. For example, 1 person was showing signs of being upset. Staff engaged the person and showed skilful communication, meaning the person’s distress was momentary.

The provider did not consistently promote the wellbeing of all staff.

Some staff told us their wellbeing at work had not been fully supported. Other staff felt their wellbeing was considered and told us flexible working arrangements were in place to support them in the workplace. Improvements were needed to ensure the wellbeing of all staff working at the service.