Southview Lodge Residential Care Home

On this page

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

Caring – this means we looked for evidence that the service involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. At our last inspection we rated this key question good. At this inspection the rating has remained good. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

This service scored 80 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The service always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. A person living at the home said, “Staff are lovely. I feel listened to, and we have a laugh.” Staff gave examples of how they respected people’s dignity and privacy; and spoke of work recently undertaken to gather information about people’s life histories, which had helped build positive connections.

The service treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds, and their protected characteristics. A relative said, “[Person] is hard of hearing, but staff are patient. [Person] sees the same staff members all the time, they know [person] well.” We observed staff referring to people by their chosen name and speaking to people in a way they could understand. Staff told us people were supported to attend the local church; and the service accommodated visits from leaders of different faiths to carry out religious services, such as holy communion.

The service promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and well-being. People spoke about what they could do for themselves and gave examples of how staff enabled them to have choice and control over their day to day lives. A staff member said, “We promote choice and people doing things for themselves. I’m a believer if someone can do something, we shouldn’t take that away from them.” Leaders told us a minibus had recently been purchased to improve access to the local community, and the service employed a dedicated staff member to organise activities and special events.

The service listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff responded to people’s needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. When asked if staff respond quickly when they needed assistance, a person living at the home replied, “Yes, they are there on the spot.” Staff were observed to regularly ask people if they needed or wanted anything. Most staff had worked at the service for several years. This meant they understood people well and could anticipate their needs, by observing for signs of pain or distress in facial expressions or body language.

The service always cared about and promoted the well-being of their staff and was exceptional at supporting and enabling staff to deliver person-centred care. The registered manager spoke about how the provider promoted staff well-being. They organised staff well-being activities, had recently provided a designated break room, and access to support from staff trained in mental health first aid. One of the service’s publications stated, ‘Here at SVL Care, we want to ensure our staff feels just as looked after as our residents…we are proud that staff want to be a part of our team and share our vision for providing the best possible residential care.’ The most recent Investors in People report stated, 'Your desire to continue to implement well-being practices for staff is a credit to the owners.' Award ceremonies and gifts were used to encourage a sense of belonging, and ensure staff felt valued. For example: the service had recently celebrated, ‘professional care workers week’ in which people were able to nominate staff for small prizes. Staff told us they felt supported if they were struggling at work and were encouraged to give feedback about their experience via supervisions, team meetings and surveys. A staff member said, “The registered manager is amazing, I couldn’t ask for a better manager. I am supported and can call her at any time.”