The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has found the quality of care provided by Greenways Court in Consett, County Durham to be outstanding following an inspection in February 2016.
Greenways Court is a residential care home in Consett providing accommodation and personal care for up to 51 older people. The service does not provide nursing care. There were 48 people who used the service at the time of our unannounced inspection in February 2016.
The service has been rated outstanding for being caring and effective, and was rated good for being safe, responsive, and well-led. Greenways Court was rated ‘Outstanding’ overall. A full report of the inspection is available at: www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-195336595.
The service was extremely caring and observed a range of warm and affectionate interactions during our inspection, with people who used the service and staff sharing jokes with staff. People we spoke with and their relatives were unanimous in their praise of the caring attitudes of staff. We found the atmosphere to be extremely relaxed, calm and welcoming and all relatives we spoke with told us this was the case whenever they visited.
We found staff at all levels to have an excellent knowledge and understanding of people's needs, interests, likes and dislikes. External professionals and relatives we spoke with expressed a similar confidence in the knowledge and skills of staff.
We found staff to be particularly knowledgeable with regard to end of life care and how they could support people compassionately in a place they had chosen as home when that time came. Nursing professionals confirmed the registered manager liaised well with external nursing support to ensure people could choose their place of death and for this to be a thoroughly planned part of their care.
There was a full time activities co-ordinator in place and we saw a range of group activities were planned each week. Some of these activities included musical gatherings established as a result of additional external training the activities co-ordinator had attended.
We observed one of these gatherings and found people responded positively to the session, with relatives also confirming they had noted improvements in people's wellbeing as a result.
Debbie Westhead, Deputy Chief Inspector for Adult Social Care in the North, said:
“This is a fantastic residential care service and there are many examples of outstanding practice that are clearly helping in delivering an excellent person-centred service.
“We received outstanding feedback from people who used the service regarding their meal choices in particular. There was a wide variety of options available, and kitchen staff were knowledgeable about people’s needs and passionate about delivering high quality, enjoyable meals.
“We were also very impressed with the registered manager ensuring there was a culture of person centred care at the home. They ensured that staff were well recruited, trained, and supported to provide the best care. They took the safety of people using the service very seriously, whilst at the same time making sure they had choice and were always looking for ways to improve their wellbeing. They also built strong working relationships with other health and social care providers as well as other organisation links, helping people to stay connected to their community. It is for this and many other reasons why the service has received the highest rating we can give and I congratulate them.”
Ends
For further information please contact CQC Regional Engagement Officer Kerri James on 07464 92 9966. Journalists wishing to speak to the press office outside of office hours can find out how to contact the team here. Please note: the press office is unable to advise members of the public on health or social care matters.
For general enquiries, please call 03000 61 61 61.
Find out more
Read reports from our checks on the standards at Greenways Court