Kirklands

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 service 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 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 service always treated people with kindness, empathy, dignity and compassion. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

Staff felt they delivered a high standard of care which promoted their emotional wellbeing. One staff member told us, “People living here are human beings, and I treat them with respect and dignity.”

People told us they were well cared for and staff treated them with kindness. One person told us, “It’s nice here and the staff are really good to me.” Another person told us, “It’s very good here I can’t fault it, the [staff] are lovely.”

Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. One visiting professional told us, “I am always made to feel welcome [by staff].”

The service treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences.

For example, during lunchtime, we observed staff conversing with people and asking where they would prefer to have their meal and whether they were still happy with the meal choices they had made. Staff made people aware of other available options.

Staff generally communicated in ways which reflected people’s preferences. Staff spoke clearly and always treated people as individuals. One staff member told us, “I check people’s care plans if I am unsure about someone’s communication needs. The longer you work with people, you get to know how they like to communicate.” We discussed with the management team the need to request additional support around 1 person’s communication needs.

The service took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture, unique backgrounds and protected characteristics. One staff member told us, “Holy communion is held regularly in the care home, and we often take people to coffee mornings at a local church.”

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

One person told us, “I can do what I like. I get up when I want and go to bed when I want, no one tells you what you should be doing.”

People took part in a range of individual and group activities which were person centred and promoted their wellbeing. One person told us, “There is a whole raft of things to do, but only if you want to. I think there are crafts today.” One relative told us, “[Person] has lots to do, they were making a Christmas cake yesterday. There is a therapy dog which visits on a Monday, which everyone loves. I have photos of [person] with [wildlife] which had been brought in. There are lots of things to do.”

During our inspection, we observed people taking part in activities including listening to a visiting ukulele band.

The service shared photos of activities with relatives, with people’s consent, using an online media page.

The service 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 people were responded to straight away when they requested support, and call bells were routinely answered in a timely way. One person told us, “They [staff] come if you call and look after you.”

Where people’s health concerns required to be escalated to specialist health agencies, this was done in a timely way.

The service did not always care about and promote the wellbeing of their staff.

The service had an employee engagement manager who visited the home to promote the wellbeing of staff.

However, while some staff felt the management team supported their wellbeing, others did not feel valued or that they could speak confidentially. One staff member told us, “I have been told I am an asset, and I felt this was uplifting.” Another staff member told us, “I brought up a few things that were going well however the manager wasn’t very positive about it, and it left me feeling deflated.” Another staff member told us, “I don’t feel like I can speak with the manager about things as I’m concerned it would get back to my colleagues.”

Some staff told us they were consistently in a hurry to complete care tasks.