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Halcyon Days

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

The Old Rectory, Church Lane, Graveley, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, SG4 7LU (01438) 362245

Provided and run by:
GCH (Hertfordshire) Ltd

Report from 29 January 2024 assessment

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Caring

Good

Updated 31 May 2024

We reviewed 1 quality statement under this key question: Independence, choice and control. Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity and encouraged people to remain independent. People were supported by a caring staff group. However we found some examples where people did not feel able to make their own choices about how or where they spent their time.

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.

Kindness, compassion and dignity

Score: 3

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.

Treating people as individuals

Score: 3

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.

Independence, choice and control

Score: 3

People told us they could choose how to spend their day. We observed staff giving people choice. For example, coming into their rooms, what to eat and drink and where they wanted to go. Relatives told us staff treated people well, were kind and respectful. A relative said, “I can’t fault them, I’m happy, they are like family now.” People’s visitors were able to come freely. We observed 1 visitor being offered lunch. However, we observed two examples which we raised with the registered manager. A person told us they didn’t know if they were only allowed to use their room at certain times. We had a discussion about this. Staff overheard but did not intervene and provide assurance to the person. A relative of a different person also told us this. They said, “Something that I have noticed is that [person] gets tired and wants to go to bed where they are more comfortable for a sleep, but [person] has said 'they have rules here and I am not allowed to go back to bed' - again I get it as they do not have the mobility to take themselves to their room, but I struggle that [person] does not have that freedom to choose what it is that they want to do.” A person told us they had waited to use the toilet but staff, seen coming out of the person’s room, had told them they needed to wait until after lunch. We raised this with the manager who told us this was normal for the person to make comments such as that. However, there is a concern that the person’s views would not be validated because of their health condition. In one unit there was only one toilet accessible to people without staff assistance. The other bathroom was beyond a key coded door. This meant that people were dependent on staff to take them to the toilet, and we saw people were waiting for the one toilet freely accessible making them later for lunch.

Responding to people’s immediate needs

Score: 3

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.

Workforce wellbeing and enablement

Score: 2

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.