Moorland House

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

People and their relatives told us staff treated people with kindness, compassion and dignity and staff in all roles supported people and responded to alleviate people’s distress. People and their relatives indicated they were involved in making decisions about the care and support provided and were encouraged to be as independent as possible. An activities programme was in place to ensure people had access to activities that were meaningful to them. At our last ratings inspection we rated this key question good. At this inspection the rating has remained good.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People and their relatives told us staff treated people with kindness, compassion and dignity. Comments included, “It’s all good here. I have no worries” and “I feel [person’s] always included”, “I know when I leave, [person] will be happy.”

Staff spoke passionately about people when describing the care they provided. Comments included, “I care for people here like they are my dad” and “I think we give very good care everybody here wants to do the best for people.” The registered manager told us how they worked alongside staff providing support to people, this enabled them to role model best practice and provided them with an opportunity to identify any concerns or areas for development.

Professionals told us staff treated them and people with respect and kindness. One visiting professional told us, “It’s a beautiful home here…. There is a lot of caring.”

We saw people being treated with kindness and compassion. For example, during a mealtime experience, we observed a staff member helping a person to eat. This was done gently and sensitively, using the person’s name and wiping their mouth as they ate, pausing for moments to help the person take a drink. Staff in all roles supported people and responded to distress. We observed a member of the housekeeping team holding a person’s hand and talking kindly to them and their family. Early on in our assessment we observed 2 occasions where people’s personal care needs could have been managed in a more considered and respectful way. Following our feedback, the registered manager was responsive and took action to address this. We observed this action had been effective as our subsequent observations found consistently interactions between people and staff were warm and respectful with staff responsive to people’s requests for support.

We did not look at Treating people as individuals during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

Feedback from people and their relatives indicated they were involved in making decisions about the care and support provided and encouraged to be as independent as possible. For example, 1 person told us, “I’ve seen my care plan, they’ve chatted to me about it” and another told us how they were free to decide where and how to spend their time. They said, “I do watch TV downstairs sometimes and I normally go down for lunch… if I'm not downstairs they come up to my room, knock on my door and tell me it's lunchtime or teatime. I can have it in my room if I want to… I always get what I need, I asked for a pillow the other day and they got me 1 straightaway.” Most relatives felt people had access to sufficient and meaningful activities. One relative told us, “They get them doing things which keeps their mind active… They bring animals in, different animals to touch and feel, I saw a picture of [Family member] holding a snake” and another said, “There is always something going on to keep them busy.” Relatives told us staff supported their family member in ways which maximised their independence. Relatives told us they felt welcomed into the service with 1 saying, “I can come in anytime” and another saying, “I can come anytime to visit, I get offered a cup of tea and I’m also able to come and have lunch with [Person] too.” We were also told that staff facilitated calls with other family members who lived further afield.

Staff told us how they promoted independence and encouraged people to participate in various activities. The registered manager told us people’s records detailed their individual choices, wishes and preferences regarding meals, their faith and hobbies. They described a number of activities that people could be involved in and told us, “The reflexologist came in this morning. We have the animals in on a monthly basis…we have singers come in. There is something going on every day. There are a lot of group activities.”

We observed staff supporting people in ways that maintained their independence, choice and control. Examples included supporting people to understand drink and meal choices. For example, we observed a carer supporting a person with their lunch. The carer, sat on a stool close by, they helped cut up their food and then assisted the person to eat by placing food onto the fork and offering this to the person. This was done in a person centred way and at a gentle pace. We observed staff asking another person what they would like for supper. They offered mushroom soup, a ham sandwich or asked if there was anything else the person might prefer. The care worker told us, “[Person] likes things done a special way, they like the crusts cut off their sandwiches and they like the sandwiches served in small pieces”. The person told us, “They do all that for me.” We observed activities taking place that people were engaged with and enjoying. This included a visit from a musician during which staff spent time with people supporting them to play their own musical instruments along to the music.

People's care records and care plans demonstrated they were involved in decisions about their care. Plans included ways staff should support people to maximise their independence. An activities programme was in place to ensure people had access to activities that were meaningful to them. A range of professionals visited the service which contributed to people’s health and wellbeing. This included chiropodists, hairdressers and physiotherapists. A clothing company also visited which enabled people unable to visit the shops to still be involved in making choices about new clothes.

We did not look at Responding to people’s immediate needs during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

The management team cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. Staff told us they enjoyed working at the service and that the provider and registered manager were very supportive. Comments included, “It’s amazing. I really enjoy working there” and “The door is always open with management, and you can talk to them about work or things that are happening outside of work. We are well supported.” Supervisions and team meetings took place regularly. Staff told us they found these meaningful and had an opportunity to discuss anything work related, or personal, that they might need support with.

The provider and registered manager knew staff well, this enabled them to provide personalised pro-active and reactive support that recognised the diversity of their staff team. Staff were given the opportunity to provide feedback, share concerns and had regular conversations with leaders to ensure they remained well.