Chester Court

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

Staff at the service always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. People and relative’s comments included, “Staff are kind, they have got to know [Name] in a short time, and we are getting to know the staff very well”, “[Name] is pampered”, “Staff are patient and flexible” and “I am very happy with the care.” Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. Professionals’ comments included, “The team at the care home are always appreciative of the input of our service”,” The staff are always welcoming and very helpful” and “The staff are always polite and if they do not know the answer, they will either find someone who does or find out and get back to me.”

Staff at 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 protected characteristics. Staff had received training in equality and diversity to emphasise the importance of treating people as unique individuals with different and diverse needs. A person told us, “My faith is very important to me. Staff have arranged for church people to visit me.”

The service promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and well-being. A person told us, “I can go to bed when I want” and “I have a choice usually, I ask to get up, I choose.” People's independence was promoted, and they chose how they spent their time. A staff member commented, “[Name] is now thriving, they have now started to make their own bed.” There was a varied programme of activities and entertainment. On the day of the site visit some people enjoyed a day trip to Newcastle. However, we observed remaining people did not have the opportunity to be stimulated, or take part in activities as staff were busy. People’s comments included, “We go in the garden”, “The local schools visit”, “The regular singing is not my sort of thing”, “I do not go on trips, I am not asked, I would love to go out more”, “I would like more activities, but it is getting better” and “I do not get enough activities, more would make me happy” and “[Name] gets bored in the lounge.” We discussed our observations and people’s feedback with the registered manager who informed us an additional activities person had been recruited.

Staff listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff responded to people’s needs and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. However, some people and relatives commented people had to wait for assistance. Their comments included, “I cannot get the attention when I need it. I wait while [staff] see to someone else, and I have an accident” and “There have been times, [Name] is waiting to go to the lavatory, I go looking for the staff. I think the view is others need to go first.”

The provider and registered manager cared about and promoted the well-being of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. The organisation and the workplace had initiatives in place to support workforce development and retention which was consistent and resulted in up-skilling staff and supporting staff well-being. Staff had access to several policies relating to promoting and ensuring their well-being. Staff told us they felt valued and supported by the management team. They all commented they were encouraged to voice their opinions, ideas and suggestions. Their comments included, “Staff morale is good, we have professional leadership”, “I would recommend it as a place to work”, “There is person-centred care with staff as well as with people” and “It is great to be back working here, it is like coming home.”