Telford Court Nursing Home

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

Caring – this means we looked for evidence the provider involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good. This meant people felt well-supported, cared for or treated with dignity and respect.

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.

The provider always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. People told us, “Staff are very nice, kind and helpful” and “Staff are kind, I am never rushed, they talk to me, and I am given a choice of clothes.” Staff understood the importance of treating people with dignity and respect, and confirmed this was part of their training. Managers undertook observations of staff practice, including people’s meal experience. However, we saw an example where a staff member could have been more responsive to the person’s pace when supporting them with breakfast, which we shared with the registered manager. The provider had compiled a “Special File” which contained many thank you cards and compliments about the service and staff approach.

The provider treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics. Staff knew people well and had built effective relationships with them. One relative told us, “My [relative] is not able to speak, but staff know her facial expressions.” People’s care plans contained information about their cultural, religious and spiritual needs. Information was obtained about their life histories. People’s rooms were personalised with items such as photos or memorabilia. The staff placed importance on celebrating special events with people and their families.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. Everyone we spoke with said staff supported them to be independent. We observed staff offering people choices during our visit. One person said, “They help me get changed and washed, encourage me to wash hands and face and use toilet myself.” This approach was further embedded, through the discharge to assess pathway at the service. The service was modern, and purpose built with various lounges, people were free to move around the building and chose where they wished to spend their time. The provider had an activities team who supported people with individual and group activities, as well as arranging regular entertainers. They organised trips into the community. There were no restrictions on visiting, a relative told us, “We can visit when we like which is really good.”

The provider listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Overall, staff responded to people’s needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. However, we saw a couple of examples where call bells weren’t answered promptly, this was important as sensor mats were used and sounded to alert staff if a person was at risk of falling. The registered manager told us they planned to undertake spot checks in relation to this in future. Staff supervised some communal areas to ensure responsive support was available to people if needed. Staff mainly engaged well with people in a friendly and supportive manner. However, we noted some staff did not use this opportunity to engage with people. The registered manager told us they were already monitoring this and had focused on this within various staff meetings.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. There were a core team of staff who had worked at the service since it had opened. Staff said managers were supportive, and they were clear about the expectations of the care provided. Staff were offered training and developmental opportunities. They told us morale was good, and they said there was good teamwork. Comments included, “The teamwork and skill mix are brilliant. The bond that everyone has is amazing” and “This is my forever job.”