Oaktree Hall & Lodge

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• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

Systems were in place to ensure people’s independence, choice and control were promoted. Staff encouraged people to be as independent as possible, and usually responded promptly to their requests and preferences. On occasion though, we noted staff could have been more responsive or more sensitive to people’s needs. Overall though, they were caring and respectful. People were supported to maintain relationships with those important to them.

This service scored 75 (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.

People told us they were supported to maintain their independence and their choices were respected. One person commented, “'Yes, staff definitely support me to be as independent as possible. I try to do as much as possible on my own.” Some people did though tell us that an issue with the lift had impacted on their access to the community over recent weeks. The management team updated us on how this issue was being addressed. Relatives felt people were treated with respect and their independence was encouraged. One relative gave us an example to demonstrate how staff respected their loved one’s individual needs and preferences. They also told us, “Independence is supported as much as possible. From what we’ve seen the staff are kind and caring. My (relative) gets on well with them. The staff know first if anything is wrong.” There were no restrictions on visiting the home and relatives confirmed they could visit whenever they wished.

Staff were knowledgeable about how to promote people's independence and gave us examples of this. They also demonstrated awareness of the importance of respecting people’s choices. One staff member told us the recent lift issue had affected people’s independence and access around the building, so they were keen to see this resolved as quickly as possible. The provider was in the process of conducting a staff survey, which included questions about how well staff felt that people’s independence and choice was promoted at the home. Results of the survey were still in the process of being collated at the time of our assessment, but the responses received so far showed mainly very positive scores for these questions.

We observed some mixed interactions during our site visit. We saw some staff were responsive to people’s needs and promoted people’s independence. However, on one occasion a person’s choice was not supported in a timely manner relating to their request for nail care. We also observed an interaction in which three staff supported a person, resulting in an increase in their distress. Although the staff’s approach was in line with information in the person’s care plan, there was conflicting information in their positive behaviour support plan and the approach did not appear to support the person’s emotional wellbeing. This was discussed with the provider who shared some context on the approach following the site visit. We also observed that in one area of the home (The Lodge) there were limited activities offered throughout the day. The provider employed a full-time activity coordinator who was splitting their time between the two areas of the home (The Lodge and The Hall) at the time of the site visit. This was due to a vacant activity coordinator post. We observed the lift issue was still not fully resolved at the time of our site visit, impacting on people’s independence and access. We saw people could have visitors and were supported to maintain relationships with their loved ones.

Care plans contained information about people’s needs and preferences. This gave staff the guidance they needed to promote people’s independence and give them the right level of support. The care plans also contained information about people's life histories and social needs, which enabled staff to support people as individuals. People had access to required equipment to maintain their independence, such as mobility and communication aids. Communication systems were in place to share information with people and their relatives. Residents and relative meetings had not taken place recently, but the new manager told us these would be starting again. Satisfaction surveys were in the process of been carried out.

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.