Grey Gables

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 and their relatives consistently told us they were supported and treated well. People were encouraged to express their views and make decisions about their care. People’s privacy, dignity and independence was respected and promoted. We observed people to be treated with kindness and compassion throughout our visit and staff were seen to talk to people with patience and consideration. People were actively encouraged to undertake meaningful activity and analysis was carried out to ensure people were doing things they enjoyed. The registered manager had a great focus on promoting staff wellbeing.

This service scored 85 (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 staff team and felt they were treated well. One person said, “The staff are kind, they always are.” Relatives also spoke positively about the staff. One relative said, “The staff are very kind and caring, I couldn’t ask for more.”

Staff told us how they promote people’s dignity and ensure everyone is treated well. One staff member told us, “People are very well cared for here.” Another staff member said, “We have enough time to talk to people and give them time to do what they want to do.”

Feedback from partners was positive in this area. One partner said, “There is a clear rapport been built up and we do enjoy seeing interactions between both staff and residents.”

We observed staff to kind, compassionate and treated people well. People’s privacy was respected. People had their own bedroom, bathroom and lounge area. During walk arounds of the home, people’s doors to their own personal space were kept closed to retain their privacy. We witnessed positive interactions between staff and people using the service and observed staff talk with patience and consideration.

People told us staff knew them well and knew what activities they like to do. Relatives spoke positively of the relationship staff have with their loved ones and how relaxed and comfortable they are around staff. One relative said, “Staff are always polite and respectful towards [person using the service].

Staff were knowledgeable about the people they look after. Staff told us they got to know people through conversation and spending time with them.

We witnessed positive interactions between staff and people using this service. Staff engaged well with people and offered support when needed.

Processes supported individualised care. Support plans held detailed accounts of people’s communication needs. Each person had a communication plan tailored to their needs. This prompted staff on how the person communicates and how best to communicate to them. There was also a dos and don’ts section to guide staff on how best to communicate to people whilst minimising stress. This greatly improved people’s wellbeing as staff communicated to them in a person centred way. Support plans documented people’s strengths, abilities and their ambitions for the future as well as information on what people liked to do socially and their preferred activities. Staff supported people in documenting what was important to them which helped to prompt conversations of what activities people would like to do in the future and what their goals and ambitions were.

People told us they had a choice of what meals they would like and spoke positively of the activities they do. One person said, “I do arts and crafts, go the library and I do drama.” People told us their independence was promoted. One person said, “Sometimes I wash up and wash my clothes, sometimes the staff do it.” Relatives told us staff supported people in having regular visits. One relative said, “The staff sit back and intervene when they need to.”

Staff understood how to support independence, choice and control. Staff told us people spent their time participating in meaningful activities. One staff member said, “People are always busy with various activities such as cycling, swimming and walking.” Staff spoke about how they promote independence. One staff member said, “We ask residents what they would like to do and encourage them to do things for themselves where they can.” The registered manager spoke about innovative ways of getting people out into the community. For example, one person likes animals, and they are looking at ways they can arrange for an activity to happen where animals will be the focus. This will help the person build a better relationship with the staff team and the registered manager and increase trust.

We observed staff encouraging people to do things for themselves. We witnessed one person eating their breakfast and staff prompted them to wash their dishes which they did. We witnessed a range of activities taking place during the site visit including people sitting in the garden with staff members, walking to the shops and completing wordsearches.

Processes supported giving people choices and increasing opportunities and activities. Detailed activity plans were in place and tailored to suit people’s needs and preferences. On both days of the site visit we witnessed activities taking place. Use of daily record coding for analysis of activities and daily living tasks were used in practice workshops to see what was working and what was not. This meant that staff could identify what people were enjoying and change things should they need to. We saw a range of logs including magic moments and special memories where staff supported people to document events that had happened which were special to the person and the impact this had on their wellbeing. This meant the service was actively seeking to improve people’s outcomes.

Relatives felt their loved one’s needs were responded to in a timely manner.

Staff spoke about how they would recognise when someone is not feeling themselves and knew how to escalate concerns. Staff told us about the different ways they communicate with people. One staff member said, “We have communication prompts and tools for those who cannot communicate well.”

We witnessed positive interactions between staff and people using the service. Staff spoke to people in a calm, relaxed manner and people appeared comfortable with this. Satisfaction surveys included a section for staff to make suggestions on other incentives they would like to see. This was then reviewed by the registered manager, and we saw evidence some suggestions had been implemented.

Staff told us they were safe in the workplace and felt it was a positive environment. One staff member said, “The manager is always checking staff are OK and is very caring.” Staff felt their workload was manageable and that they had enough time to spend talking to people. One staff member told us about development opportunities within the organisation and how they had recently been promoted to a more senior role.

Processes supported staff wellbeing. A range of training courses were available to staff to enhance their skills and knowledge. The service operates an on-call system to ensure staff can always contact a senior member of staff should they require advice or guidance. Staff wellbeing was a priority and there were various tools in place to promote this. There was an initiative where staff could give thanks badges to other members of the team to recognise someone who had gone the extra mile. In addition, there was a range of staff perks including counselling sessions and a wellbeing application. A survey had recently been sent to staff to obtain their views of the perks on offer. This survey included a section for staff to make suggestions on other incentives they would like to see and it is clear this feedback had been taken on board.