Amberley Lodge - Purley

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 received outstanding levels of care from staff who were kind and caring. People and their families had opportunity to be involved in decisions about their care and support and creating their care plans. People were supported to have choice and control and make decisions about how their support was provided. They were encouraged and helped by staff to do as much as they could for themselves, to maintain their independence. People were supported to understand their rights and how the service would make sure these were respected. People’s friends and families were free to visit them with no restrictions. People were encouraged to take part in a wide range of activities which helped support their independence, health and wellbeing.

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

Health professionals we spoke with told us they thought this was an exceptionally well-run service and the whole staff team were very caring and always went the extra mile to help people, relatives and health professionals. They said they worked well with the service, in part because of this.

Staff supported people in a very kind, calm way, reassuring people when needed. The culture in the home was friendly and we heard people, relatives and staff comment on how it was like a large family where everyone looked out for each other. Our observations confirmed this. We noticed how staff spoke to people with dignity and respect, supporting people to maintain their appearances discreetly and appropriately. People actively sought out staff to chat to and spend time with. Staff were friendly, respectful and attentive to people's needs. Throughout the inspection we observed staff treated people with kindness, spending much time sitting and talking with them in a relaxed engaging fashion. We observed people happily playing organised games and painting pictures. There was an exceptional and comprehensive activities programme in place that people told us they enjoyed. Staff actively encouraged people to take part in activities they enjoyed People’s information was appropriately kept securely and confidential.

Staff told us people’s preferences and individual histories were recorded on their care files. Staff said this helped them to understand and engage with people so much better. They said it helped to establish good trusting relationships with both people and their families. This together with the stable team of staff helped to create a much more successful engagement with people. One staff member said, “It’s helpful to have an understanding of people’s backgrounds and histories because it gives us so much more to work with and engage successfully with people.” Staff understood the best ways to communicate with people to help them make choices and express their views. For example, staff described to us the different ways people who had limited communication expressed their preferences. We observed staff gave people plenty of the time they needed to communicate. Staff told us they were always careful to maximise people’s independence wherever possible. We observed people were well dressed in clean and appropriate clothes. People were able to make choices about how they spent their day, for example what activities they wanted to do and where and when they wanted to eat. Staff told us how they maintained people’s dignity when providing personal care, such as ensuring people remained covered as far as possible and that doors and curtains were closed.

People and relatives were extremely positive about the care and support provided for them. Comments included, “I am very happy with the care my [family member] receives here, it is a really well-run home”; “The staff are exceptionally caring, and they treat them with such kindness, as well as being respectful of their dignity”. “The care is the best I’ve experienced, exceptionally good, I have no complaints at all, the staff are very kind to us”. People were supported to have as much choice as possible in every area of their day to day lives. Comments from relatives included, “My relative is always well dressed and presentable when I visit”; “We see that staff treat people with tremendous respect and kindness and not just my [family member]”. Relatives told us staff treated their family members with great respect. We observed staff spoke to people pleasantly and used their preferred names. Relatives told us they were welcomed as visitors to the service and kept updated as to their family member’s progress. This has helped people maintain important relationships.

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.

We observed people were able to make choices based on their preferences and likes and dislikes. They decided what meals were on the menu and what activities were provided and they decided what activities to participate in.

The managers and staff recognised the importance of person-centred care planning and support and said the policies and processes in place supported them with this.

People were supported to take positive risks, to ensure they had as much choice and control of their lives as possible. Staff supported people in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. The policies and systems enabled people to be involved in their care planning. The provider had effective systems to support people’s diverse needs and protect their lifestyle choices. The service was outstandingly caring and responsive. Staff were exceptionally kind and caring and demonstrated a real empathy and understanding of people with dementia. Staff knew people well. The service had a strong, visible person-centred culture. People were supported to maintain relationships and social contacts. Arrangements for social activities showed a creative approach that met people's needs and helped them lead a full life. Relatives and professionals agreed the service was excellent at providing person-centred care.

The policies and processes in place supported managers and staff to provide person-centred care.

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.

We did not look at Workforce wellbeing and enablement during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.