58 The Village Care Home

Summary of Findings

CQC Findings

On 27 April 2016 the Care Quality Commission undertook an unannounced inspection of 58 The Village and rated it as ‘good’ across all areas of safety, effectiveness, care, responsiveness, and leadership.

Security

The home itself is secure with call bell access. However, on the day we visited, the front door was answered by a resident and we were invited in. We were able to walk around the downstairs of the home before bumping into a staff member and introducing ourselves, which was a slight concern as we had not shown any ID at this point. The problem was exacerbated by the fact that the Home’s office is based upstairs, so staff did not initially see or hear us entering the home.

Communal areas

The home is large with multiple communal areas. There is a living room at the front of the house, which had ample comfortable seating and was clean and tidy. There was a large tv turned on, which one of the residents was watching. There is a separate dining area, which had a dining table and chairs, as well as a large kitchen with ample fridge-freezer space. The kitchen had lots of picture cues for foods, and menus were personable and easy to understand.

We were told that residents are very involved in helping to prepare the house meals, and that the cooking skills of a few residents in particular had greatly improved over time. There are always alternative meals on offer, for those who do not like that meal choice.

Residents bedrooms

There are six bedrooms in the house, two of which are wheelchair accessible, with a lift which goes to each floor. One of the rooms is en suite, and the other residents share communal bathrooms. The residents bedrooms were large and spacious, and highly personalised according to each person’s tastes and interests. All the rooms we were shown on the day were tidy and clean, and were spacious with lots of natural sunlight.

Feedback and involvement

The home holds house meetings every three weeks to share news and gather feedback. Where possible, these are held immediately after staff meetings, so that relevant information from those can be shared with the residents. We were told that attendance for these is generally high, especially as staff include incentives such as snacks and aim to make them as informal as possible. However, for residents who choose not to attend, staff members speak to them individually after and inform them of anything they ought to know.

Overall summary

58 The Village Care Home was large and spacious and had a very homely feel to it. All communal areas felt welcoming and well-tended to. We were not able to gather feedback from many residents, but the one resident we did speak with indicated that he was happy in the home. There was evidence that service users’ individual choices and preferences were taken into account when planning the space and the activities. Staff came across as professional and passionate. Overall, we were impressed with the environment and the positive, proactive attitude of the staff.