The Firefly Club 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 assessed 1 quality statement in the caring key question as part of this assessment. This quality statement score has been combined with scores based on the rating from our last inspection, where the service was rated good. Relatives told us they felt improvements were needed around how their family members were supported to engage in meaningful activities both at the service and in the wider community. We observed mixed interactions between staff and people, with some staff motivated and pro-active, whilst other staff struggled to effectively engage with people. The registered manager was aware that improvements could be made. They had taken steps to support staff to improve their confidence when supporting people and put plans in place to increase people’s opportunities to access meaningful activities.

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 did not look at Kindness, compassion and dignity during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

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.

People were unable to give us verbal feedback about their care. Therefore, where appropriate, we spoke to relatives about their family member’s experiences of receiving support and care. Relatives raised concerns about the level of activities people were supported to take part in both inside and outside the home. They said they were worried about social isolation. They said that some staff were very engaging with people, whilst others seemed less motivated. They told us that staff did not always appear confident enough with people to try new activities or support people to plan events ahead. Relatives told us that staff treated people with dignity and respect.

Staff told us they offered people choice in their everyday life, including choices around what they would like to eat or the clothes they wear. Staff used people’s communication aids, such as Picture Exchange Communication System or Now and Next strategies to help people communicate their wishes and understand the structure of their day. The registered manager told us staff had developing personalised communication aids such as bespoke Makaton books. These detailed the specific Makaton signs which people used, which helped to promote effective communication between people and staff. The registered manager acknowledged that there had been challenges in engaging people with activities both inside and outside the home. They said that some people had fallen out of the routine of attending specific activities and it was difficult to encourage and motivate them to try new things. They told us they had been working with people and staff to help identify and plan new activities which people would enjoy.

We made assessment site visits to the service on 3 separate occasions, during different times of the day. We observed a range of staff providing support to people in communal areas of the home. We observed mixed levels of staff interaction and support for people. In one positive example, we observed staff members using communication strategies identified in people’s care plan to help them to make choices around their daily routine. We also observed positive interactions between staff and a person when they were being supported to make a pizza. The staff member was fully engaged with the person and supported them to carry out aspects as independently as possible. However, we observed some staff who were not engaging with people and staff who were not focused on supporting people during mealtimes. This resulted in people not always having a sense of purpose as they were allowed to passively engage in tasks.

People’s care plans included information about their preferences and established daily routines. Care plans included information about their communication needs and how staff could use strategies to promote people’s choice and independence. Care plans followed the principles of positive behaviour support, which focussed on how staff could create a positive environment which people were comfortable and happy within.

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.