The Rowans

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

People received care and support that promoted and encouraged their independence. People had control over how their care was provided and were included in decisions relating to their care. This included if any changes to care were needed. Staff provided care in a dignified and caring way. When people needed support from staff, they responded quickly. Staff spoke positively about their roles. They enjoyed caring for and supporting people and they had a clear focus on improving people’s lives. We found minor concerns relating to inappropriate terms being used to describe a person’s behaviour in their care record.

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 liked the staff and found them to be kind and caring. A person described the staff as their “family” and went on to tell us a humorous story about the staff. The staff member responded with laughter, and this had a positive effect on the person. We did note in one person’s care records language used to describe a person was not dignified or compassionate. A person had been described as “bossy” and “stubborn”. We raised this with the manager. They agreed these descriptions were not appropriate and they would review this and other care records to ensure more appropriate language was used to describe people.

Staff spoke passionately about their roles and how they supported people in a compassionate and dignified way. A staff member told us, “People should be able to have an enjoyable life and opportunities as much as anyone else.” Staff ‘Dignity Champions’ were in place. A Dignity Champion is someone who believes passionately that being treated with dignity is a basic human right, not an optional extra. The manager told us the staff selected for this role has a particular passion about ensuring all people received dignified care.

We carried out this inspection as concerns were raised to us about the care being provided across the provider’s groups of services. We found no evidence of people being harmed at The Rowan’s.

We observed numerous kind and caring interactions between people and staff. There were many examples where people shared jokes, stories and enjoyed each other’s company. People appeared calm and relaxed and changes in people’s demeanour such as heightened anxiety were handled calmly and respectfully by staff. We observed people taking part in numerous activities. For example, a staff member and a person were writing a list of the things that were important to the person. The discussion moved onto Santa Claus and the person’s birthday. The person joked that both were coming very soon, the staff member played a long and they both had a good laugh. The staff member was calm, fully involved with the discussion and the person responded very well to them.

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 told us they were supported to have choice and control over their own care. One person told us, “My favourite thing is I can do my shopping on my own, I ask the seniors for money, and they check the time I’m going.” People told us that they were able to live their lives as they wanted. One person explained that staff had supported them to book tickets to go and see show. They said their preferred member of staff was not available but alternative options had been discussed with them and they were happy with the plans that had been agreed. People were able to book holidays, day trips and other experiences and were supported to do so by staff. Staff agreed what activities would take place with each person and people were fully involved with this process.

Staff understood people’s ability to make choices and told us they would always encourage people to make their own choices. We observed this in practice. Staff always asked for people’s input and respected their choices. The manager was confident that staff had the skills, knowledge and understanding to be able to provide people with the appropriate support to lead independent lives. For example, a small number of people lived in an annex building off the main building of the home. This was for people that were able to live more independently with reduced support from staff.

We observed numerous examples where people were supported to do things for themselves, this included contributing to making drinks, lunch and clearing away after meals. We observed people taking part in activities and being encouraged to give their views, make their own choices and help to understand the consequences of choices made.

People’s care records contained detailed assessments of people’s ability to make independent decisions about their day to day care and support needs. Additionally, people’s ability to carry out domestic tasks such as cooking, cleaning and maintaining the bedroom were recorded. These assessments were reviewed to ensure the support people received met their current needs and did not impact their freedom to make their own choices.

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.