The Laurels Residential 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. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. Staff were observed to engage positively with people, and individuals appeared comfortable and at ease in their presence, indicating that caring and trusting relationships had been established. Feedback from relatives was consistently positive, with comments such as, “Staff are lovely and very kind” and “Staff are very kind and respectful.” Staff also demonstrated an understanding of how to protect people’s dignity, for example by ensuring bathroom doors were closed during personal care.

There were some occasions where staff used undignified language when discussing people’s behaviours. We raised this with the manager who addressed it immediately.

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. People’s individuality was reflected within their living environments. Bedrooms were personalised and decorated according to people’s preferences. Special occasions, including birthdays, were recognised and celebrated, and people who wished to practise their religion were supported to attend their chosen place of worship. A relative told us, “[Person] used to go to church and they facilitated that.”

People’s individual needs and preferences were reflected in their care plans. Where a person chose to eat foods not aligned with their assessed choking risk, staff respected their right to make decisions. Staff supported this choice while promoting independence and implementing measures to reduce associated risks.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. An improved activities programme had been introduced, offering a range of meaningful opportunities for people, including movies, quizzes, painting, gardening, poetry and physical activities. This helped to ensure people had access to activities suited to their interests.

We observed positive interactions between staff and people. For example, people were seen dancing with staff and engaging in games such as dominoes. A relative told us their family member was supported to continue their hobby, and one person was encouraged to take part in day-to-day tasks, such as setting the table at mealtimes. People were supported to access the local community, and friends and family were encouraged to visit, helping to maintain important relationships.

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. Staff knew people well and were able to respond to their immediate needs. People had access to call bells and told us they did not have to wait long for assistance. A new call bell system had recently been installed to further improve response times.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff, and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. Staff received regular supervision with their line manager, which provided opportunities to discuss workload, wellbeing and professional development. One staff member told us their working hours had been adjusted to meet their personal circumstances and said their workload was manageable. Recruitment processes included obtaining information about applicants’ health and wellbeing to help ensure they were fit to undertake their roles. The staff rest area was observed to be cluttered. The manager had already identified this and was taking action to declutter and improve the environment to make it a more suitable relaxing area for staff to use.