Elstow 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 we identified a breach in relation to people not always being treated with dignity and respect. At this assessment improvements had been made and the service is no longer in breach of regulations. People and relatives were positive about the kind and caring nature of staff and people were happy whilst staff were supporting them. Staff treated people with compassion, dignity and respect. People were supported to make choices about their care and support. Staff supported people to be independent if they chose to be.

This service scored 50 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People and relatives gave us positive feedback about the staff team. One person said, ‘‘I like all the staff. They make sure I am alright, and you won’t find nicer staff than here at [service]. Relatives’ comments included, ‘‘[Staff] are kind and treat [family member] really well.’’ and, ‘‘[Family member] loves all the staff members like their own family which is a credit to them and the way the look after [family member.]’’ We observed staff speaking with people with kindness and compassion. One person reacted very positively to staff interaction and laughed and smiles as a result of staff speaking with them in this way. Staff spoke about people and how they supported them passionately and with an emphasis on treating them with dignity and respect. Staff told us how they made spending time with people a priority and made sure people were happy and comfortable throughout the day. We observed staff spending a lot of time with people throughout the day and people responded positively to this.

People were treated as individuals by a staff team who knew their preferences, likes and dislikes. One person had been supported to live their life they way they had wanted to for a long time. This person told us, ‘‘It’s all going well you know? Everything is great and I am being treated well.’’ A relative said, ‘‘[Staff] absolutely know [family member] and everything about them.’’ Staff and the management team knew people well as individuals and this was clear from our observations. For example, staff spoke with people about what interested them and used these interests to support people in their day to day lives. One person was visibly very excited to speak with staff about some of their recent outings to the community. People’s care plans focused on them as individuals and gave staff a good overview of their individual likes and dislikes.

People were supported to be independent if this was their choice. One person was visibly very happy to be supported to prepare their own meals. A relative said, ‘‘In the past [family member] has been hesitant to do things themselves but staff have supported them and they are proud to do their own thing now. It is heartwarming to hear about some of the things they can now do themselves.’’ Staff had a good understanding about how to support people to be independent and ways in which people could be supported was clearly explained in their care plans and risk assessments. Staff and the management team ensured people were supported to make choices in as many aspects of their lives as possible. We observed staff supporting people to choose their meals and choose how to spend their time, whether verbally or using different communication methods depending on people’s ways of communicating. People’s choices were respected. One person said, ‘‘[Staff] give me a lot of choice. I can do what I want and they know this.’’ People and their relatives were involved in discussions and made choices about wider care and support in regular meetings.

We observed staff responding to people’s needs throughout the day. One person became upset in one area of the service, and staff knew how they communicated this. They supported the person to another area of the service and the person immediately showed they were more comfortable and happy. When people asked to be supported to make food or drinks or to leave the service staff supported them to do so. One relative said, ‘‘[Family member] wants for nothing. Staff are on hand at all times and I am confident they get what they needs as soon as they need it.’’ The staff and management team recorded how staff could know what support people needed in their care plans. For example, staff knew the signs a person might use to show they were thirsty where they were unable to communicate verbally.

Staff enjoyed working at the service and felt well supported by the management team. Staff spoke with us about how they had been supported to work in line with their preferences and this hand enabled them to be the best they could be in their jobs when they supported people. The manager and deputy manager were passionate about enabling staff in their job roles. They had made a lot of effort to support staff to take the lead in areas such as care planning and risk assessing for individual when changes were needed. Staff told us this responsibility meant a lot to them and also made more sense as they knew people best. Staff were also supported with regular supervisions and meetings so they could feed back about aspects of the service. Staff said these were useful and they felt listened to by the management team.