Chipstead Lake - Care Home Physical Disabilities

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 observed people being treated with kindness and compassion, some people commented they did not feel this was always the case. Most people and relatives told us they were happy with the care they received. People told us they were supported to be independent and had choices about their daily lives. Care plans contained information about what people could do and reflected their preferences.

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.

A relative told us, “They kept using agency carers overnight, they’ve got no idea about disability, he says ‘I want to be respected and some of them don’t’, it annoys him 2 carers are speaking their own language over him and he’s had it a few times, whilst dealing with him, they talk to each other and not to him, it was an issue with language, he thinks some can’t even speak English." The relative told us, they had raised this with the registered manager. The registered manager told us, they were recruiting staff and this had reduced the amount of agency staffing to reduce the risk of this happening again. People told us the staff were good and were caring. One person had previously moved from the service for personal reasons but when this did not work the way they hoped they asked to move back to the service. When discussing this they told us, “I missed the staff. I really did. They're like family. They know what they are doing, and they really help me.” One person who lives with severe sensory disabilities is supported by staff when their relative visit. Their care plan guided staff on how to let them know their relatives would be visiting, this was done by applying lotion with a specific smell to their hand.

Staff spoke with fondness and compassion about the people they supported. One staff member told us about one person and the challenges they faced. They spoke about how staff have tried to get to know the person since they moved into the service, despite not being able to communicate verbally or by any other usual communication methods with them. The staff member described how the person was starting to respond positively to their new surroundings. Staff spoke about the importance of spending time with people, getting to know them and their families/representatives and offering reassurance where needed.

Feedback from professionals was positive. During their visits to the service, they did not feel people were unsafe or unhappy. Staff interactions with people were good, however, they felt there were potentially staff who were not as dynamic with people as possible. Partners had previous concerns with the culture at the service but told us they feel this is actively improving.

Staff treated people with kindness and knew them well. We saw good examples of the relationship built between people and staff.

We did not look at Treating people as individuals during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

People were able to access the community when they wanted. One person often left the service when they wanted to visit local businesses. Managers and staff were aware of this and had measures in place in case of an emergency. “I have independence and choice about everything”. A person’s care plan gave instructions to staff about when they will require help, what they would do and how to respect their choices, such as having the bedroom door closed, we observed this in practice. People are given a choice of food and drink and choices of activities. The service has 2 mini buses which had recently been used for days out in Brighton and using the lake that's opposite to compete in disabled sailing. People were informed and asked about the plans for redecoration, for example, they were going to be given a choice of what colour the bedrooms and communal areas were to be painted.

Staff told us that the care and support people receive must be their choice. They told us they understood that people could make choices, and they would respect this as long as they remained safe. If they felt that a person was making an unwise choice or a choice which could potentially cause them harm, staff would explain this to them.

We observed people being offered choices. Staff asked people if they wanted to go to the lounge, their bedrooms or the activity centre. We saw people were able to freely access the administration and registered manager's office and would talk to the staff in them regularly throughout the day. People were able to access all parts of the home and were given fobs/controls to be able to open and close the secure doors so that they could leave the service if they wished.

People's care plans contained information about what they could do and how staff should support people to maintain these skills. Staff had found out people's likes and dislikes to make sure they were offered choices which reflected their preferences. Although we could not always be assured care plans were as up to date as required, it was clear staff knew in practice what people liked and disliked and what they wished to do for themselves.

We did not look at Responding to people’s immediate needs during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

We did not look at Workforce wellbeing and enablement during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.