Enter and View Report: Samuel Close 3
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
Samuel Close 3 is a purpose-built care home in a quiet area near Woolwich Dockyard Railway Station. Its location provides residents with a peaceful environment while being conveniently close to major transport links. The home is part of a group of three run by the same provider. Good links between the three homes enable residents to visit each other. The property has a nice garden, well used by residents in summer months. The home has five bedrooms and is at full capacity, with four permanent residents and one respite resident. Residents are encouraged to participate in activities, outings, hobbies, and domestic chores. During our visit, residents showed a high level of trust in care workers and happily engaged with them. Families are updated through regular emails, phone calls, and an annual review process.
Recommendations
- Include information on how to lodge a complaint directly with the Care Quality Commission or the council in the reception area.
- Review the current maintenance schedule to repair marks and scratches in resident’s rooms.
- Review bathroom facilities to safeguard residents' privacy and support residents to understand and recognise each other's privacy.
- Implement a more structured activity program to help align carers' shifts with service users' needs, including accommodating their need for social interaction.
- A regular method for group communication and feedback with families, such as a newsletter and group meetings, could provide additional updates and information.
