Clarence House Care Home

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• 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 staff interacting with people in a kind and caring way. People and relatives told us they were treated well and were happy with living at the service. One relative said, “The staff are lovely.” Another relative said, “They [staff] are very kind and thoughtful.” Processes were in place to support staff welfare and to ensure staff were also valued.

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.

People told us staff knew them well and understood their preferences. One relative said, “They [staff] know [relative] so well, they even get [relative] to fold tablecloths because [relative] likes to help.”

Staff and leaders were committed to providing a caring environment. Staff spoke with pride about showed kindness and compassion.

The staff and management team worked with external professionals, however, professionals felt this could be improved. One professional said, “They [staff] require a lot of input when it comes to improving their service, they need to be told where they are not doing well and do not recognise it themselves. They rely on healthcare professional visiting the home to pick up on errors before making improvements. They are accepting of help and any areas of improvement or recommendations put to them.” Another healthcare professional was happy that the home maintained contact with them and had raised concerns regarding people. However, 1 healthcare professional said, “At times it has appeared that staff may have been contacting with dated information, therefore making it difficult for us to identify timeframes and current presentation.”

Observations saw staff were kind and caring, interacted with people appropriately and it was an inclusive atmosphere. Staff had a good rapour with people and showed compassion. One staff member quietly went over to someone who was sleeping in a chair and placed a cushion by their side in attempt to make them more comfortable. Another staff member was looking through a book with someone. When the person disengaged, the staff member quickly accessed another activity of interest, and the person smiled and engaged.

People told us staff treated them as individuals and offered choices and respected people’s decisions. Relatives were happy with the care and support their family member received.

Staff spoke passionately about people and how they offered care and support to meet their individual needs.

We observed staff offering choices to people and respecting their decisions.

The service had a system in place where staff were champions for specific areas such as dignity, dementia, medication and infection control. Staff received training in these areas and led the rest of the staff team in providing appropriate care.

People felt they were involved in their care and relatives told us staff were caring. One relative said, “They [staff] know [relative] well, they get [relative] to fold the tablecloths because they like helping.” Another relative said, “[Relative] is much more settled now, 2 of the carers are particularly good with her and chat to her which she really likes.”

The provider had 2 activity co-ordinators who knew people very well and planned activities around people’s preferences.

We observed staff interacting with people and found they offered choice. Staff held good conversations with people and clearly knew people’s emotional and communication needs.

Care plans included person centred information such as food likes and dislikes and preferences in how personal care was delivered. For example, use of cosmetics, shaving, preference of clothing such as trousers of skirts. Peoples’s personal histories were included in people's care documents and detailed information such as job roles undertaken.

People and relatives were happy staff listened to them and responded well to their needs and understood their preferences. People told us staff responded when they required external professionals and took action to address any concerns. However, some people and relatives told us it could take staff a while to respond to them on a day to day basis.

Staff told us they worked well together to identify when people required support. One staff member said, “It’s about knowing what people like and responding when they need you.”

Observations saw staff were kind and caring, interacted with people appropriately and it was an inclusive atmosphere. Sensor equipment was in place to ensure staff were alerted when people at risk of falling were mobilising. We saw staff responded when the alert was sounded.

Staff were complimentary about the manager and deputy manager and told us they were supportive and approachable.

We saw systems in place to support the workforce including staff handbook, flexible working policy, lone working and others.