We spoke to a range of people about the home. They included, the manager, relatives visiting, people who live at Marsh House, district nurses and staff. We also spoke and had responses from external agencies such as social services in order to gain a balanced overview of what people experience.Comments from people living at the home were positive and included. "Despite being rushed the staff are fantastic." Another said, "The staff are really caring and helpful." Other people such as relatives and district nurses only said good things about the care and management of the service including, "Things have improved so much for the better." Also, "The new manager has made a big difference."
Staff spoken to had a good awareness of individual care needs and the importance of
treating people with respect and dignity. We saw evidence of this during our observations during the day and talking to relatives. One relative said to us, "Cannot fault the politeness or willingness to help my relative by all the staff and manager."
From our general observations it was evident there was not enough staff to ensure people received the support and care they required on a daily basis. Comments from people living at the home included,"The staff are all hardworking and always willing to help, but they don't have enough time to spend with you." Also a relative spoken to said, "They are pushed and always rushing around." Staff we spoke to also talked about their concerns of staffing levels due to some people requiring a lot of care and attention. One staff member said, " Some residents have high needs and need a lot of support." Another staff member said, "Some residents need a lot of support so we miss time spending with other people." Social services contracts had recently conducted a monitoring visit and told us they felt more staff were necessary to support people.
We spoke to Lancashire county council contracts monitoring department and they have
recently undertaken visits to the home. They said issues still remain in relation to care planning and risk assessment training for staff. However they are currently working along side the new manager who is addressing the issues.
People who live at the home and relatives we spoke to only said good things about the
quality of food. Comments included, "The food is always good." A relative spoken to said, "They use good fresh produce its looks appetising."
We spoke to a number of people about the condition of the building and comments included, "The building does look a bit tired." A relative said, "It is clean however it could do with a lick of paint." Staff spoken to all said the home requires updating and some refurbishment. The manager told us a programme of updating the premises has been put forward to the organisation for agreement and and agreed.