Lonsdale Mews

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.

People and their relatives told us staff were very kind and caring. One relative said, “I can’t speak highly enough of them, they’re very thoughtful.”

We observed interactions between people and staff, and we saw staff treating people with kindness and empathy. Where people needed emotional support, staff provided this. People’s right to privacy was respected and they were able to choose how they spent their time.

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 were treated as individuals by staff and leaders within the service. People’s cultural needs were respected, including tailoring meals for 1 person’s religious beliefs and holding in-house religious services for others.

People’s bedrooms were personalised with their own belongings, bedding, trinkets, and photographs. One person told us, “Its very much like being in your own home.”

People’s strengths and interests were encouraged, with 1 person saying they were particularly interested in art and were encouraged to attend the painting class, and another person said, “The best thing about living here was when they asked me to do some acting. I played the ghost of Christmas past in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.”

Care plans included personal history for each person to give staff a snapshot into the person’s life prior to requiring care and featured key family members who were important to the people living at the service.

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

We saw the care and support people received reflected their personal needs and wishes. Staff we spoke with could tell us about those they supported and what was important to them.

Staff understood their role in supporting people to maintain their independence and be in control of their own treatment. We saw in care records that people were involved in decisions relating to their care and wellbeing throughout. Staff supported people to go out and about and complete everyday tasks such as shopping for new clothes and Christmas shopping.

People were empowered to share their views and opinions on the service and any changes they would like. Residents’ meetings provided valuable feedback to the manager who acted on their suggestions such as requiring more shaded areas in the garden, which was now underway. These avenues provided people with the opportunity to have choice and control in their lives. People were fully supported to understand their rights because there were lots of leaflets, posters and contact numbers available for anyone that needed support.

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 staff responding to people in a timely and caring manner. When a person became upset, a staff member immediately approached, gently held their hand, and offered reassurance, remaining with them until they were settled.

Where people had limited communication skills to communicate verbally, we observed positive interactions between staff and people, which demonstrated relationships were caring and compassionate. This enabled staff to anticipate and meet people’s needs quickly and in ways that reduced and mitigated people’s discomfort and distress.

Staff responded quickly when people pressed their call bell for assistance, and the registered manager told us they regularly audited the timeliness of staff responses to call bells to ensure people were not left waiting for an extended period of time.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff, and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care.

Staff feedback was positive about the atmosphere of the service, and the team morale. One staff member told us, “If one suite (area of the home) is having a bad day, everyone pulls in to help, there is a family feel.”

Several of the leadership and staffing team were mental health first aiders, and were able to support not only the people at the service, but the staff as well.

The registered manager was proud of the support for staff. They said, “We do colleague appreciation week in May each year. Care UK give us an amount of money and we can spend it all on treating the staff, some have had sweet treats, pamper sessions, some have seen the chiropodist or had a takeaway. But it is also about appreciating the staff the rest of the year, I’ll bring in some sweets, talk to them making sure they okay, making sure they have opportunities to progress if they wish. At Christmas the staff all get a gift voucher, normally its £100 and they can select which stores to get their voucher from. We do Care UK stars, where we nominate staff to win an award internally, and we also nominate for external awards. We nominated at the National Association of Care Caterers, and our head chef was a finalist.”

The home had recently received an accreditation in supporting people at the end of their life, and a celebration was thrown for the staff to celebrate.