Buckingham House

Updated 17 October 2024

Date of Assessment: 29 October 2024 to 15 November 2024. Buckingham House is a care home which provides personal and nursing care for up to 53 people. The home is located in the town of Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire. The service provides support to older people, some of whom may be living with dementia. At the time of this assessment there were 48 people living at the home. The assessment was carried out in response to concerns about the service. We observed people were relaxed in the company of staff and we observed lots of smiles, laughter and positive engagement with people. We found person centred safe care was provided with risks to people identified and mitigated. Systems were in place to promote learning from accidents, incidents, complaints and safeguarding to keep people safe. Staff treated people with kindness and compassion, and there was a positive and friendly culture in the service. We found the provider was in a process of making improvement and they had been working with the local authority on an improvement plan. The registered manager had returned from a period of leave. We found both the above had consolidated improvements in the service.

Updated 17 October 2024

We spent time speaking with people while at the service and made telephone calls to relatives after the site visit. People provided positive feedback about their experiences of living at Buckingham House. One common theme was how people perceived the atmosphere in the care home. Comments included “There’s a good feeling”, “I can feel a good atmosphere,” and “Lovely atmosphere.” This was supported by what relatives told us. Comments from relatives included, “Atmosphere is very friendly and welcoming, staff have got to know me as well, there is a culture of positivity, trust and compassion, good conversations between residents, staff and visitors. Very open and loving feeling”, “A good home, I would recommend it” and “Atmosphere is friendly and homely, we feel really lucky to have found Buckingham House, so many staff all nice to everyone, sense of positivity in the home with genuine care given.” People and relatives described staff as kind and caring. We observed positive interactions between staff and people. One person told us staff were “always so attentive.” People and relatives told us they felt consulted about their care and were kept up to date with any changes. People and relatives were very positive the registered manager had returned to the service. Comments included, “[Name of registered manager] is friendly and approachable, good rapport with her staff, a more positive culture in the home now” and “Home feels a lot better with her [registered manager] back, more permanent staff and more consistency in everything.”