Oakhurst 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

The provider had systems in place to ensure people had independence, choice, and control over their lives. Care plans were personalised and detailed people’s preferences. Staff were able to describe how they support people to maintain their independence. Other than ‘Independence, choice and control’, we did not assess any other quality statements during this assessment in this domain. Our last assessment under our old methodology rated this key question as good and we have no evidence to indicate this has changed.

This service scored 70 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

We did not look at Kindness, compassion and dignity during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

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.

We spoke with relatives about independence, choice, and control. 1 relative told us, “My relative chooses which staff they want to support them. They don’t have the same staff all the time, they choose the staff who communicate well with them. My relative is given more choices.”

Staff we spoke to, told us, people were given choices, they were able to give us examples of this. 1 staff member told us, “The staff promote people’s independence. It makes residents happier to do for themselves.” When asked if people could choose how to spend their time, all staff spoken to, confirmed people could. Staff detailed the activities people participate in. When asked is people’s preferences for male/ female carer support was respected, 1 staff member told us, “We support a resident who wants female only support and we honour that and have enough staff to provide this. All staff spoken to, confirmed people were supported to contact their friends and family. 1 staff member, told us, “Since the management has changed, family and friends can come in the home far more freely and this has improved greatly. Family fun days have been really positive, and the residents enjoy it.” When asked about supporting people with their preferred communication method, 1 staff member told us, “There is a range of communication needs, verbal, non-verbal and also Makaton which the staff have had training on.” When asked how they ensured people were engaged in meaningful activities, the registered manager told us, “What is meaningful to each person is different. We have people who find their set routines meaningful to them. We are looking for new activities to try.’’ The registered manager gave us 2 examples of supporting a person to develop plans and to meet longer term aspirations.

We observed people being communicated with, using their preferred methods, and given choices. There was an open activity cupboard with lots of options for activities. We saw there was a quiet room, sensory room, and a large garden providing people with a choice of activity. We observed people being supported in these rooms, along with spending time in their bedrooms and one person received a visit from their relative. The family were complimentary about the support their relative received.

We reviewed 3 people’s files. We reviewed people’s daily notes which were detailed and evidenced how a person had spent their day, what frame of mind they were in and the choices were offered throughout their day. We also noted evidence of people being supported to maintain their independence, this included during personal care, household tasks and activities. The registered manager told us daily notes were reviewed to ensure people are given choice, control, and independence over their lives. We did note the activities for the 3 people we reviewed were limited and repetitive. We noted no-one went outside the home in the evening. We raised this with the registered manager who told us, 1 person had become anxious about going out, so they were working with them, and the person was going out more than they had previously. The registered manager told us, they were aware activities for people could be improved upon, including in the evening. They told us they had a plan in place to increase variety of external activities for all individuals. We reviewed a service user satisfaction survey dated November 2023. Positive responses were noted. The home also had service user meeting’s where people were asked their views. For people who were unable to give their views, staff followed their preferences to help support them to decide. There was also an advocate who was contracted to provide generic advocacy support to the people living in the home. We were assured people who had a staff preference were listened to, and people’s communication needs were prioritised. The registered manager ensured people were supported to maintain relationships with those they were close to. We observed there were limited activities offered to some people, therefore we could not be assured people were always engaged in meaningful activities for most of their days. The provider had processes in place to ensure people’s views were regularly collected and acted upon.

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.