The Springs Care Home

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 inspection we rated this key question good. At this assessment we did not assess all quality statements within this key question. The overall rating for this key question remains good based on the findings at the last inspection. People told us they were supported by kind and caring staff and had choice and control to make decisions about how their care and support was provided. The majority of our observations confirmed this, however our observations on 1 unit demonstrated improvements were required to ensure people had positive lunchtime experiences and were able to communicate their choices and preferences. People had to wait longer when requesting support with transitioning and personal 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.

We received some mixed reviews from people and positive comments from relatives. One person told us, “I just get up when I wake up and wash and dress myself, most of them come in without knocking”. Another person told us, “I need help to get up because of my back. They are very caring in helping me, nothing is too much trouble. I just ask them, and they usually do it. Prompt mostly, some delay if they are busy but I can’t praise them enough”. Relatives told us, “We can’t praise the staff enough they are so kind to (family member), whatever we ask for, they accommodate”. Another relative said, “The carers really look after (family member), I have no issues with any of them. Carers are always available absolutely”.

Staff we spoke with told us how they promote people’s dignity by ensuring doors are closed and asking people’s permission before assisting with personal care. However, people told us this was not always followed. Staff spoke fondly of the people they cared for, one staff member said, “I really enjoy my job and love the residents”.

We received positive feedback from an external partner. They told us, "They remain very courteous and always ready to learn and take advice around patient care. They appropriately refer their patients and implement the treatment advised by the team. They are eager to learn and improve their care and attend the education sessions put on by the team”.

We observed lunchtime experiences and interactive sessions on all 3 units. On 2 units, we observed staff offering people choices, interacting and were calm, patient and did not rush people. Staff were respectful and assisted people appropriately. Staff demonstrated good knowledge when people became distressed and declined their meals. They spent some time talking with them and offered them an alternative meal which they enjoyed. However, on 1 unit people were not always offered a choice of food or drinks and staff did not always engage with them during the lunchtime experience. On one observation a staff member did not recognise when a person became distressed and required support with personal care.

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.

On 2 units people were supported by staff to maintain their independence. People were able to walk around independently and spend time together having conversations and engaging in some activities. However, this was not consistent with all units. On 1 unit, where people required more clinical support, they were not always encouraged to engage in meaningful activities. However,1 person told us, “I just get up when I wake up and wash and dress myself”, and “I’m free to come and go as I wish. I go to bed when it suits me”.

Staff told us they felt people would benefit from more activities within and outside of the home and this was an area which needed much improving. Not all people, particularly those with more advanced cognitive and physical impairments were given opportunities to engage in meaningful activities. We shared this with the management team, who told us this had been identified and they were currently recruiting 2 activity staff members. Some staff we spoke with said, “People are independent here, REMOVE they will eat themselves and choose what they would like to do, we promote independence and feel it is important”. Another staff member said, “I’m passionate about motivating people”.

On 2 units we observed staff encouraging people to do things for themselves and making choices. This was not consistent with the third unit, where people were not always assisted to be independent and not always given appropriate choices of where they would like to sit, or what food or drinks they would choose. Not all people’s rooms were personalised or homely.

There was a lack of evidence people and families were involved in the care planning and reviewing process. Care plans gave some information which referenced people's choices and demonstrated where people were independent and made daily decisions. However, through our observations these were not always followed by staff on all floors.

Most people and relatives said they were listened to, and their wishes were accommodated. One person said there can sometimes be a delay if staff were busy but spoke positively about the care they received. Another person told us it could be difficult to get staff attention if they required assistance.

Staff said they felt supported by the management team, and they could go to them with any concerns and would be listened to. Staff gave positive views about the service and the support given by the provider. They told us they felt they had the appropriate training to enable them to support people safely.

We observed mixed responses to staff providing support to those who needed it. Some call bells were answered quickly, and care needs responded to, whilst others had to wait for long periods of time to receive support. We shared this with the management team who told us they would review this.

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.