The Vale Residential Care Home

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• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

Everyone we spoke with was happy with their care and complimentary about the staff supporting them, which illustrated a positive culture that promoted positive experiences for Everyone we spoke with was happy with their care and complimentary about the staff supporting them, which illustrated a positive culture that promoted good experiences for people. Relatives described how staff had a positive impact on their loved ones. One relative fed back that their loved one ‘has steadily improved’ in the home. A person told us, “I am happy here and the food is very nice.” Staff and management ensured people, and the people important to them, had a good experience while receiving care as well as opportunities to give their views about the home. A relative told us, “I completed a survey about a month ago. I know good care when I see it and it’s here.” People also had opportunity to engage with a varied programme of activities which supported a good quality of life. For people who may have needed support to express their experience there were pictorial charts in bedrooms to help aid their communication with staff. People also had access to advocates where required. We observed people and their relatives appeared to be relaxed in the company of staff. One relative told us, “[The staff] know [loved one] so well. I am 100% happy with the care [loved one] gets. [Loved one] is always clean and happy.” Another relative said, “They keep us fully informed and tell us immediately if anything changes. There is nothing I can say that’s negative at all.”

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.

We did not look at Person-centred Care during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Care provision, Integration and continuity during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Providing Information during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Listening to and involving people during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Equity in access during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

Staff told us they spoke with people, their relatives, to ensure people had equal opportunity to be heard. A staff member said. “We don’t leave anyone out.” Another member of staff said, "We listen and talk with the residents everyday to make sure they are ok." Staff also told us they sat with people regularly and supported them to complete surveys to enable them to share their views. The manager gave examples of how they worked with people and their relatives to ensure they received appropriate care and treatment for example through referrals to other professionals. The manager gave an example of how they had supported an individual to stay in the care home rather than move to another service. A relative sent a compliment to the service in thanks for the ‘amazing’ support and outcome. A health care professional told us, “I feel the residents are looked after in a kind and caring environment, and their best interests are always at the fore front of the carer’s minds.” Staff spoke highly of working at the service and said colleagues supported each other. Staff felt they had both a clear direction and genuine support from the management. This fed through into the positive culture we saw when staff were supporting people with dignity, kindness, and respect.

The use of various formal methods to gather feedback demonstrated the manager wanted to provide ample opportunity, in ways that were accessible for different people, to ensure people were listened to. The service had not received any complaints but there was a complaints policy in place. We reviewed survey results which were positive. Some areas could have been improved, for example, some relatives did not know the complaints procedure and there was no action plan to show whether this had been addressed. However, everyone we spoke felt able to raise concerns and had not needed to make a complaint. The manager told us they were sending out surveys again to gather more feedback and were keen to ensure feedback was actioned and this was recorded. We also reviewed relative and staff meeting minutes which showed quality of care was discussed and the service was striving to provide good quality care. Recent relative meeting minutes included ideas for activities and shared updates such as raising funds to make the home more dementia friendly. Relatives complimented the service on the care provided to their loved ones during the meeting. There were a number of compliments logged for the home and we received positive feedback via CQC give feedback on care following the assessment.

There was a positive and relaxed atmosphere at the home, and feedback from people and their relatives was consistently complimentary. Some relative’s comments included; “This is a lovely, calm place. They know my [loved one] so well because they listen to [loved one].”, “It feels like a family here because people really know each other.” People told us they were happy with the staff who supported them and the outcomes they achieved. A relative shared that ‘Overall [loved one] never looked so well’. One relative had fed back during a relative meeting how ‘fabulous staff are at the Vale. [Loved one] is non-verbal. It was clear by the interaction the staff had with [loved one] that [staff] had taken time to get to know [them], to learn [their] character and [they] seemed very content’. Relatives knew how to complain about the service should they need to. Comments included, “I haven’t needed to make a complaint. If I have a question, I can ask the staff or the manager. They communicate very well with me”. Another relative said, “I am confident in raising any concern because I know the staff listen.” The practice we observed during our visit demonstrated people were supported to achieve equity in their experience and good outcomes. We observed clear signage around the home to help people orientate themselves and support people to identify room uses such as the bathroom. People’s bedrooms had their photograph to help them find their own rooms. We also observed adapted equipment in use to support people to safely eat and drink to ensure they were able to achieve good diet and hydration intake.

We did not look at Planning for the future during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.