Dunkirk Memorial House rated Outstanding by Care Quality Commission

Published: 12 July 2016 Page last updated: 12 May 2022
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The Care Quality Commission has found the quality of care provided by Dunkirk Memorial House as Outstanding overall following an inspection in April 2016.

Inspectors rated Dunkirk Memorial House, located in Minehead Road, Bishops Lydeard in Taunton, Somerset ‘Outstanding’ for being effective and responsive to people’s needs and ‘Good’ for being safe, caring and well-led.

A full report of the inspection has been published today at: www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-125654932

Deborah Ivanova, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, said:

“It is encouraging to report that there was an openness to learn and deliver an exceptional level of personalised and innovative care at Dunkirk Memorial House.

“Staff had the knowledge and skills to meet individual needs and should feel proud of the work they do and for the positive relationships they have with residents.

“Staff told us morale was excellent and managers were visible, approachable and responsive to suggestions to make to improvements to the quality of service.”

“People should always be cared for by services which are safe, compassionate and of a high quality. I would encourage other providers to read this report, and the others we have published on services we have rated ‘Outstanding’, to see what they can learn.”

The report highlights a number of areas of Outstanding practice, including:

Providing excellent and strong person-centred care that enabled ex-service members and their dependents, living with dementia and at end of life care to achieve their potential, live well and continue with a range of varied activities.

Encouraging people to feel occupied and stimulated by supporting their involvement in an excellent programme of activities and social events, based on people’s interests and abilities.

The Mews had won an architect’s award for design that specifically enabled people living with dementia to maintain their independence. For example, people were enjoying the outside facilities, which included summerhouses, a greenhouse and a memorial garden in recognition of people’s military backgrounds, all of which were wheelchair accessible.

Staff were exceptionally well trained and had demonstrated excellent skills and knowledge to provide effective care, comments from people included, “Even the new ones are very good. They get good training when they start to make sure they know how to do things right” and “The staff here are very professional in everything they do.” Staff were kind, respectful and spoke affectionately about “…the joy of caring for residents” and demonstrated a good knowledge of people’s likes and dislikes.

The Mews was actively involved and passionate about “The Butterfly project”, a year-long project that promotes the well-being of people living with dementia to provide a stimulating and personalised approach to care and the home has been accredited the Gold Standards Framework which enables care homes to provide quality care to people nearing the end of their lives.

Ends

For further information please contact CQC Regional Engagement Officer Farrah Chandra on 07917 594 574 or, for media enquiries, call the press office on 020 7448 9401 during office hours. Journalists wishing to speak to the press office outside of office hours can find out how to contact the team here. (Please note: the duty press officer is unable to advise members of the public on health or social care matters).

For general enquiries, please call 03000 61 61 61.

Find out more

Read reports from our checks on the standards at Dunkirk Memorial House

About the Care Quality Commission

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England.

We make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and we encourage care services to improve.

We monitor, inspect and regulate services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety and we publish what we find to help people choose care.