Alder 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

People were supported by kind and caring staff to have choice and control and make decisions about how their support was provided. They were encouraged and helped by staff to do as much as they could for themselves and to maintain their independence. People were supported to understand their rights and how the service would make sure these were respected. People were encouraged to take part in a wide range of activities both at the service and in the community which helped support their independence, health and wellbeing.

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.

No concerns were raised by external partners about the staff at this home.

People and relatives praised the staff. They felt they were kind and caring and provided them or their family members with dignified care. A relative said, “This is like a 5 star hotel, there is a level of care here that is better than anywhere else. The staff genuinely care. The overall impression here was 5 stars all round. We have no complaints at all.” Another relative said, “Staff have been excellent at encouraging [my family member] to join in with activities. [My family member] gets very low at times and needs to be persuaded to attend activities or sit with others rather than spend time alone in their room. Several members of staff have really worked hard to ensure [my family member] is not alone for long periods even when they have been 'difficult' about it.”

Staff were kind, caring and compassionate. They treated people with dignity and respect. We observed staff greet all people with a “hello”, “how are you?” when they entered a room or communal area. When a person needed the toilet, the staff supported this person quickly and discreetly maintained their privacy and dignity. We observed numerous other kind and caring interactions between people and staff. It was clear staff had a positive attitude and this was appreciated by people and relatives.

Staff explained how they provided dignified care for people, including how to protect their privacy when receiving personal care. One staff member said, “We encourage independence and make sure that every resident’s information is confidential, and when receiving personal care we talk them through it.” Another staff member said, “I keep them covered at all times in personal care unless you are assisting with, bath, shower, and wash as you are unable to as the towel would get wet. I ensure all doors are shut when giving personal care and respect their wishes and prompt independence.” The registered manager was confident that people received dignified care and support from kind and caring staff.

People and relatives felt they or their family member received care that met individualised needs. One relative said, “[My family member] and I have always been included in decisions regarding the care. [My family member] brought quite a lot of their personal items including their own bed and bookcase and cabinets, there was never any issue raised by staff.” A person told us how staff helped them to take part in activities that interested them but did not feel forced to do anything they did not want to do.

People’s care records took account of their individual needs and preferences, were understood by staff, and reflected their required care and support. Care records also included people’s personal, cultural, social, and religious needs. People’s protected equality characteristics such as age, gender and sexual orientation were not seen as barriers to care. The provider encouraged and expected staff to care for people’s individual needs. Staff had undertaken training in ‘Wellbeing awareness’, ‘Dementia Awareness’ and ‘Equality and Diversity’. This gave staff the basis for ensuring people received care and support in accordance with their individual needs. Wellbeing case studies were conducted to try to improve the mental wellbeing of people. We saw examples where these case studies had had a positive effect on people.

We observed people being supported to do things for themselves. This included walking from their bedrooms to communal areas, with support from staff if needed. People were given opportunities to take part in activities. These had been tailored to people’s wishes as well as focusing on ‘themed days’. For example, we observed a well-attended activity about ‘World Book Day’. The staff members leading this activity tailored it to be inclusive and enabled all people who wished to become fully involved. They presented at a pace that was suitable for all and people responded very positively. The staff members were clearly aware of each person’s individual ability and this led to an inclusive and enjoyable activity.

Staff could explain how they provided care in a way that focused on the individual’s needs. This included people’s cultural and religious needs. A staff member said, “We have some residents who are Christians, so on Sundays church services are held for them inside the home.” Another staff member said, “We encourage people to be as independent as possible and also encourage them to join in activities and do things for them that they like to do.” The registered manager told us they had instructed their staff to plan activities for people that were specific to them. A variety of clubs had been put in place following people’s feedback. This included a gardening club and motivational therapy. The registered manager told us they and their staff were open to more ideas about how to provide people with individualised activities.

We did not look at Independence, choice and control during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

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.