5 July 2012
During an inspection in response to concerns
Those that could express their views said they were happy living at the home. They told us that 'all the carers are ever so good'. People said they were able to express their views and believed staff would try to respond to their views and wishes.
People commented that the home arranged for them to see health care professionals such as General Practitioners (GP's) when they needed to.
People told us that they were able to make choices about their daily activities and routines; one said 'We are our own bosses.' We were told about how they were able to choose whether to join in with group activities or occupy themselves.
People told us there were always staff available to provide support and respond to call bells promptly. One person we saw tidying up the lounge said 'I help out, I don't have to but I want to'. They told us they had confidence that staff had the necessary skills to provide the care and support they needed.
For some people living at the home, because of their level of dementia they were unable to directly communicate their needs and views. Because of this we used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI) in one of the lounge areas. SOFI is a specific way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.
Our SOFI observation showed that staff were aware of how different people expressed their decisions. This meant that people who were unable to communicate verbally were still able to express themselves and staff mostly responded to their choices.