Enter and View Report: 167 Lodge Hill
The purpose of our visit
We’re carrying out a series of visits to learning disability care homes, supported living, and respite facilities in Greenwich to understand the quality of life, and views of those using the service and the experience and perceptions of relatives and carers.
The Health and Social Care Act 2012 allows local Healthwatch authorised representatives to observe service delivery at providers across a range of health and social care services such as hospitals, GPs, and care homes.
Enter and View visits can happen if people tell us there is a problem with a service. They can also occur when services have a good reputation, so we can learn about and share examples of good practice from the perspective of people who experience the service first hand.
Through the programme we help providers to identify what is working well with services and where they could be improved.
How does it work?
Our trained staff and volunteers visit a Greenwich health and social care service. We then spend time at the location, talking both to people receiving care and those providing it.
After our visit, we analyse all the feedback that we have collected and write a report which is published on our website. We share our reports with the organisations involved, the local commissioner, the CQC, and with Healthwatch England.
To protect the safety of service users and staff, we conduct risk assessments and DBS check all our staff and volunteers.
Executive summary
Located in a beautiful but isolated part of the borough, 167 Lodge Hill is a six-bedroom purpose built care home for individuals with learning disabilities. At the time of our visit, the home was operating at full capacity. Although clean, furnishings throughout the home are dated. Bedrooms are not ensuite and all residents share communal bathrooms. In addition, a lack of storage space has created a build-up of clutter. Limited public transport opportunities make it hard to take residents out beyond walking distance and limits access to activities. During our visit, the atmosphere was warm and homely with residents interacting comfortably with staff and each other. Feedback from family we spoke to expressed satisfaction with the care provided.
Recommendations
- Remove cleaning materials from communal spaces and place them in secure storage area.
- Provide information on how to share feedback and/or how to escalate complaints to the provider (RBG) of the service.
- Create access to a wider range of activities for residents.
- Organise and declutter the dietary notice board in the kitchen.
- Establish a regular method for group communication and feedback with families, such as a newsletter and group meetings.
