Blenheim Court 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 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 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 always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. We observed staff responding to people with compassion. Staff knew people well and we observed staff giving people time to process and respond to them. We observed a staff member before initiating a manual handling manoeuvre, explaining to the person what was happening and offering to support them to a different area so they could have privacy with their relative. The provider had a strong focus on hospitality and supported other homes with hospitality training. A person told us, “They've been brilliant in supporting me, doing everything for me.”

The provider treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics. People and their relatives told us people had choice and control over every aspect of their lives. People told us they choose what to wear, when to get up and go to bed and chose their meals. We observed staff offering people choice and responding to their wishes throughout the inspection.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. Staff were positive in empowering people to be as independent as possible and celebrated this. We observed the mealtime experience for people. People chose what they wanted to eat and where they wanted to eat it. We saw staff showing both choices of meals so people could make an informed choice. There were condiments available on the tables for people to help themselves to. We observed 1 person wanted their food without batter on it and this was accommodated. Another person wanted to try both meals on offer and was provided with a second main meal. One person told us, “I am going out with my relative tomorrow, I can do what I want when I want.”

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. We observed a person struggling to maintain their position during a mealtime, staff responded quickly and offered to support them to move to a more comfortable chair. Throughout interactions staff lowered themselves to people’s eye levels. We observed 1 person cough a little, a staff member checked they were ok; they physically got up from the table next to him and came to them and discreetly asked if they were ok. When the person coughed again the staff member offered to sit with them while they ate, this was accepted and the staff member sat with them until they had finished eating.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. A staff member told us, “I began as a kitchen assistant, progressed to hosting, and eventually became a carer. This role ignited my passion for supporting people with dignity and compassion. Today, I am training as a Nursing Associate, thanks to the encouragement and investment of our management team. I hope to go on and qualify as a registered nurse.” Staff told us they felt supported in their role and told us that they could contact the office, which operated an open-door policy, if they had any concerns at all. They felt the management team would respond appropriately in a timely manner. Following staff survey’s, the provider reviewed the feedback and developed action plans to demonstrate they were actively listening to staff.

The registered manager shared examples of celebrating staff. For example, a relative of a person living at the home nominated a carer for the dementia care award. Following the carers win, the registered manager arranged for a surprise party for the staff member at Blenheim Court where people and staff celebrated her award. The provider held an event to celebrate their nurses.