Ashton Court Residential 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 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 changed to requires improvement. This meant people did not always feel well-supported, cared for or treated with dignity and respect.

This service scored 55 (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. When we observed staff interacting with people, we found they were task orientated. There was no conversation between staff and people. However, when staff did interact, they were respectful and kind. During lunch, staff supported people to eat and encouraged them in a gentle way. We observed many caring and kind interventions from staff towards people. For example, 1 person became distressed and a member of staff sat with them for 10 minutes talking to them gently and holding their hand. People and relatives told us staff were kind. One person said, “The staff are very good.” Another person said, “Whatever you ask [staff name] they will do it.”

The provider did not always treat people as individuals or make sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. They did not always take account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics. We saw people’s bedrooms had personal items which reflected their interests. However, some people’s equipment and environments were not kept clean and in good repair. People’s care plans contained personal life histories but these preferences were not reflected in daily care and support. One person asked us if there was a library at the home, as they would like to read. Books were then sourced for this person but this had not previously been identified which created a risk of social isolation. The service had an activity co-ordinator who interacted well with people. However, when this member of staff was not on duty, there was a lack of social stimulation and very little to occupy people. The provider took action to ensure activities for people improved. One person said, “I get bored a lot.” One relative said, “Last week they had a singer, and it was absolutely brilliant, and all the staff joined in. There ought to be more [activities] like that.”

The provider did not always promote people’s independence, so people did not always know their rights and have choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. People were not routinely offered choices. For example, during lunch, meals were plated up with gravy and served to people. No options were provided and there were no show plates or picture menus to assist people living with dementia to make a choice.

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 saw staff responded to people’s needs and assessed them when they were available. However, there were many occasions when the main lounge area was left unattended with no member of staff on hand to respond quickly to people’s needs. We saw an occasion where a person got up from their chair and an alarm sensor was triggered. Staff responded, entering the lounge and asked the person what they wanted. The person requested to use the toilet, however, the staff member replied saying, “You’ve only just been, you’ll have to wait another 10 minutes.”

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff. Staff were positive about the support they received from the management team and told us they were approachable. However, the management team did not always offer daily guidance and direction to enable and support staff to deliver person-centred care.