Middleton Lodge

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

At our last inspection this key question was rated requires improvement. At this assessment it is now rated good. People received care and support from consistent staff who knew them well and had a kind, caring and respectful approach which maintained people’s dignity and independence. People were supported to choices and advocacy services were well utilised to enable peoples voice to be heard.

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 visiting advocate we spoke with said, "Staff understand peoples needs." People we spoke with all said they liked the staff and spoke about their keyworkers who they said helped them decorate their rooms.

The registered manager monitored staff practices to ensure they worked with people in a kind, caring, compassionate and dignified manner. Staff reported they felt supported by the provider to deliver person-centred care and had the time to work with people in ways they appreciated.

Feedback from partners was they always saw people being treated with dignity and respect. One professional said, "Every time I have popped in announced and unannounced people have been well presented, well supported and engaged in activities of their choice. People quite often meet you at the door and welcome you into their home."

Our observations on both days of our visit were that people were very comfortable and happy with the staff team who were supporting them. We heard staff always asking permission before supporting people and there was lots of smiles and laughter.

People we spoke with were happy and comfortable with the staff team. We saw lots of smiles and laughter.

Staff treated people as individuals. They discussed how they worked with people in a person-centred manner and tailored their approach to match to individuals wishes. One senior staff member said, "we are now so focused on them and giving them the best possible life."

We saw a huge improvement in peoples demeanour and presentation since our last inspection. The stable staff team had a positive impact on people.

The registered manager carried out regular observation on staff interaction and regularly sought the views of people to check they were happy.

People were supported by staff who were kind, caring and respectful. People told us they could make everyday decisions, including when they got up and what they had to eat. Relatives we spoke with said peoples choices were upheld.

Staff understood people had the right to have choice and control over how their care needs were met. encouraged individuals to make choices for themselves. The staff team had sought support from services such as speech and language therapy to ensure people were able to communicate as effectively as possible and were able to make choices for themselves.

During the course of our 2 visits we only ever observed staff offering people choices using communication of their choice such as photos of food or clear easy to understand language.

The registered manager had systems in place to ensure people were involved in all aspects of life at the service. They said, "We send invites to family members regarding all annual reviews and we try to link with local authority care reviews so everyone is present." They gave us a recent example of one person moving room due to a fire risk which had been identified and the manager sought family approval.

People appeared happy with the level of support they received. People spoke about being supported to go to the pub, planning holidays and also going shopping and to clubs when they wished to go.

Staffing was provided flexibly to enable people to access the community. Staff were "tuned in" to peoples needs and were quick to anticipate if people were becoming distressed. Staff told us, "We usually try take the person out of the situation - for a walk - to the sensory room or get them involved in an activity and we find this helps distract and calm them." Staff told us there were enough staff members to meet people's needs.

We observed staff were quick to anticipate the sign of anyone becoming distressed and to redirect them positively.

All staff we spoke with said they comfortable and happy to raise any concerns with the registered manager or provider. One staff member said, " We have a staff meeting every month for days and nights - yes we always get asked to share our experiences and share a positive and a negative and everyone gets involved and has a say."

The provider ensured staff had the skills and knowledge to carry out their role effectively. Staff completed training in relevant areas to ensure they could carry out their role safely and competently. Staff received regular supervision and support from the management of the service. There were recognition systems for the staff team and their individual successes were celebrated by the provider.