Woodroffe Benton House

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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

The overall rating for this key question is good. People were treated with kindness and dignity. Staff respected people’s dignity and privacy. Staff received training in dignity and respect and practiced what they had learned, treating each person with equality. Staff offered people choices and respected their wishes. People were able to retain as much independence as possible and told staff of how much support they required. Workforce well-being was important to the management team, however, some staff told us they did not always feel valued. The registered manager acknowledged this and was working to address the feedback.

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 spoke highly of the care staff and said they had a kind demeanour. Some comments included, “The staff are lovely, more friends than professional carers.” Another person said, “The staff are lovely and most of them know me very well.”

Staff showed kindness and compassion when supporting people. Staff we spoke with talked about people with humanity and admiration. For example, a staff member when speaking about a person said, “[Person] has sight problems, she can’t see in the distance, but she is a smart lady, she knows the area, where the toilet is she can get there. She will tell you where she is going and that she wants a wheelchair. She is very clever; I have a lot of respect for her.”

Visiting health and social care professionals gave positive feedback about how staff engaged with people. One social care professional told us about their observations when visiting and commented, “There were a few residents seen in the dining room/lounge areas and there was a staff member doing an arts and craft activity with one or 2 of the residents.” A visiting healthcare professional said, “The staff interaction with residents I have witnessed at my visits has been good and kind.”

Staff maintained people’s dignity. We observed a visiting healthcare professional came to see a person, the person did not wish to move from the lounge. Staff respected their wishes and used screens to ensure the person maintained their dignity. Staff treated people with kindness and where possible, spent time with them. We observed a person and a staff member laughing together whilst playing the spoons.

Staff treated people as individuals and ensured they gave choices. Most staff knew people well, a person told us, “We have had a bit of a turnover so some know me very well and others are getting to know me, In the main I like them, there are a few I am very fond of.” Another person said, “As much as possible, my preferences are known and they try to accommodate them, I am a late bird and stay up late and am not an early riser so I stay in bed later than most and they help me to choose what to wear.”

Care staff described how they treated people as individuals and how people’s abilities and preferences could change daily of throughout the day. A staff member told us, “If they can give answers to us, I will ask them how much help they need. I always try to help them.”

We observed staff speaking with people, offering choices about what they wished to eat, drink and where they wished to spend their time. People were able to personalise their bedrooms with photographs, pictures and ornaments. People were dressed as they pleased, we saw a person who had recently won a medal in the service’s inhouse ‘Olympic games’. The person was wearing it proudly and said they liked to wear it most of the time.

People's care records were not up to date and did not include much personalised information about people at our first assessment site visit. However, following our first visit we were sent updated care records which contained information about people and how they wished to be treated as individuals. People had one page profiles which contained information about them as individuals, these were available for new staff or agency staff.

Most people were supported to retain as much independence as possible and had control over their everyday lives. When asked about how they retained their autonomy, a person said, “As far as it goes, yes, there are obvious limits because I can’t walk about by myself but I still have choices and they encourage me to do what I can.” Another person commented, “As much as they can and I am keen to keep what ability I have.”

Staff described how they promoted people’s autonomy by ensuring choices whilst supporting them. A staff member told us, “I see the way the residents react and the way how they are and how they walk. If they eat, I see what they can do on their own.”

We observed adaptations to promote people's independence. There was a range of adapted utensils so people could eat and drink independently. Equipment was available to support people to move and position, which meant there were choices for people based on how they were feeling and their abilities during the day. We observed people went over to the on-site café for teas and cakes, people who found it difficult to walk were supported in wheelchairs.

During our first assessment visit, people's care plans were not current and did not contain much information for staff about how people's independence could be retained. However, following our feedback the provider updated people's care records which contained information about how care staff could support people with their independence. Care records guided staff to offer choices in line with people's communication needs, for example, one person communicated by putting a thumbs up or down.

People's needs were mostly responded by staff to in a timely way. People told us staff were usually available when they needed them and accommodated their wishes. A person said, “To a degree, I like to be up early and then they can help me with washing and dressing, if I miss the early rise it can be really late like 10am.”

Staff understood the importance of responding to people's needs and preferences. A staff member told us about an allocation sheet which was designed to ensure people receive the support they need in line with their preferences. They said, “We have a single sheet with shared out work, one of our sheets is ladies who don’t have males this, stops males accidentally providing care.”

We observed people's needs were met by a caring staff team. Staff spent time with people on an individual basis. We saw group activities taking place in the lounge on the ground floor, which included a music session, people who attended were engaged to join in by singing or used musical instruments.

There were some changes being made to the staff team before and during our assessment. Members of the management team shared that there was a high number of staff who were subject to close performance monitoring. Some staff told us they did not always feel appreciated or valued by the management team. The registered manager told us how they planned to address staff feedback. They told us about the English classes they had arranged for some overseas staff.

Some processes were in place to support staff well-being; the senior management team told us of their availability and that staff were offered to dine with them on a monthly basis so they felt at ease to approach them. A member of the management team gave an example of where reasonable adjustments had been made to support a staff member who was pregnant. A risk assessment which had been completed and was being reviewed regularly.