Balby

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

We received mixed feedback from people and relatives about how staff treat them and promoted their independence, choice and control. Most people told us they were happy living at the service.

This service scored 65 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Most people told us staff were kind. Comments included, “The staff bend over backwards for me, they are nice to everyone.” And “Staff are great, they are polite. Every single staff here has been nice to me.” However, some people and relatives raised concerns about their care and treatment. A relative said, “We are worried (because of current concerns about relatives care).”

At the time of the inspection the provider was monitoring how staff treated people and if they treated people with respect and dignity.

Partners told us they were conducting well-being checks and had not observed any concerns about how staff treat people. One professional told us, “[Name] has a difficult history, and they have thrived here.”

During our on-site visit, we saw people being treated with kindness and compassion.

Due to the recent staff team changes, not all staff knew people well. People told us they did not know their current staff, and this made them anxious. People had their own personal effects in their rooms, such as games consoles and Minecraft merchandise.

Staff had access to robust care records which provided detail about peoples likes and dislikes. Some staff told us they were new and needed to get to know people. One staff said, “It is my first day here, but I can access the online records system.”

We saw people choosing where they would like to be during the day, we saw people sat in communal areas and accessing smoking shelters. People’s rooms were personalised and contained items meaningful to them. The service had a games room and outdoor equipment, such as swings and a BBQ.

Due to recent alleged concerns, the senior management team were conducting regular staff spot checks and well-being checks for people.

People chose their meals each day and chose when they would like to eat them. One person said, “I don’t like to eat in the daytime, so I have my meals later on.” People told us they chose their activities; however, people told us they were upset about the staff changes and did not know staff supporting them.

Staff told us people had choices. One staff said, “People choose what they want to do every day.” And another staff said, “it is a happy place.” A portal was available to people and staff which celebrated success stories and best practice.

We saw people choosing what they would like to do, such as going shopping and out to visit friends.

Due to recent alleged concerns the provider was conducting checks to ensure all people who used the service had choice and control over their care and where they liked to spend their time.

People looked well kempt and had their own toiletries, clothing and personal effects. However, we could not be assured staff responded to people’s immediate needs, as we found an incident which was not dealt with effectively and the provider told us staff had previously inaccurately completed records relating to assisting a person with their personal care.

Staff told us people had their immediate needs met, including personal care.

We observed staff supporting people on a 1:1 basis in line with their assessed needs. People were being supported to access the community and with their meals.

Staff told us morale was low due to the recent changes in the service. One staff said, “Everyone is feeling on edge and worried.”

Feedback was sought from staff; however, the management team told us staff had stated a manager had filled these out for them. Meaning we could not be assured the data was correct. The provider planned to resend feedback surveys to ensure they could gain a true reflection of staff morale and any concerns.