Freeland House Nursing Home

On this page

• Overview
• Assessing needs
• Delivering evidence-based care and treatment
• How staff, teams and services work together
• Supporting people to live healthier lives
• Monitoring and improving outcomes
• Consent to care and treatment

People’s dining experience varied. Whilst some people experienced a positive dining experience, others where not always supported with their nutritional needs as expected. There was a disconnection between the care staff and kitchen staff. Kitchen staff were not always aware of some people's dietary needs such as diabetics despite information having been given to them. The menus provided where not what people were eating on the day of the assessment. Staff did not always know what they were serving people. The provider took immediate action to address the concerns and were continuously looking to improve people’s experiences.

This service scored 71 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

We did not look at Assessing needs during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

The provider had processes to ensure people’s needs were shared amongst staff. However, these were not always used effectively. There was a disconnection between the care staff and kitchen staff. Kitchen staff were not aware of some people's dietary needs such as diabetics despite information having been given to them. The menus provided were not what people were eating on the day of the assessment. Staff did not always know what they were serving people. Following the assessment, the provider sent us a kitchen action plan which stated they had recruited a catering manager to ensure consistency within the catering team. The catering manager would check peoples’ nutritional profiles and share their dietary needs with the team. They would also attend daily briefings to ensure regular communication between catering and the care team.

The registered manager told us they were aware of the concerns about food and that the kitchen was privately run. They had changed the company with slight improvements and had requested the provider to review the arrangement.

People’ s dining experience varied depending on which floor they were. Whilst people on the main building ground floor experienced a positive dining experience, people on the first floor where not always supported with their nutritional needs as expected. For example, during lunch we saw one person ate only a couple of mouthfuls of their large portion main meal. No member of staff told them what the meal was, prompted them to eat or asked them why they were not eating. The person was not offered an alternative when it was clear that they did not like the meal. Another person who lived with diabetes told us, “I don’t think that they know what is right for me here. I had sponge with custard for pudding today, no cream but I didn’t think that I should eat it.” The person did not eat the pudding. We received mixed feedback regarding food. People commented, “Food is up and down. Some days better than others”, “There are several things I am not keen on. Sometimes I get an alternative if I ask. I had a cheese and tomato omelette yesterday”, “It’s [food] got better. I complained a few months ago, it was often late, cold and small portions. As soon as I said something it got better” and “For the last two weeks there has been no choice of food. Just the one day when they knocked on the door and asked me to choose one of two options, that was the only time.” We also received mixed feedback from relatives. They said, “[Person] always seems to enjoy the meals and though can never remember what they have eaten and always says it was nice”, “[Person] doesn’t eat a lot but what they have always seem hot and tasty, drinks are always next to her bed”, “The food and choices could be better, but we understand Freeland are currently in the process of replacing the catering contractor” and “[Person] is on a pureed diet. If we ask a carer what is being served, they do not always know."

We did not look at How staff, teams and services work together during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at Supporting people to live healthier lives during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at Monitoring and improving outcomes during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at Consent to care and treatment during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.