Heaton House Residential Care Home in Reigate Road, Worthing, West Sussex has been rated Outstanding following an inspection in March by the Care Quality Commission.
Inspectors rated the service Outstanding both overall and for being responsive to peoples’ needs and well led and Good for being effective, caring and safe.
Heaton House is a residential care home accommodating up to 14 people in an adapted
building over two floors and was providing personal care to 13 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection, some of whom had dementia.
James Frewin, Head of Inspection for Adult Social Care, South East, said;
“People living at Heaton House are receiving exceptionally responsive care with services being developed and tailored to meet their needs and at the same time promoting inclusion and engagement with the local community. This was possible as staff knew people well and built meaningful and valued relationships with them. Staff took pride in their work and went the extra mile for the people they supported. They have gone above normal levels of care to ensure people become valued members of their local community. I would like to congratulate the service on attaining an overall rating of Outstanding.”
Some of the key findings from the inspection include:
People's wellbeing was important, and the services worked to reduce feelings of isolation. People visited a local school to see the children perform school plays and hear the school choir. Parents of the children, and the children themselves, said the visits had an extremely positive effect on everyone with children enjoying learning about the "olden days" from the people at the home.
The children and people at the home had also learned Makaton signing together, Makaton is a type of sign language usually used by children that has been shown to be beneficial to people with dementia. On another occasion the children talked about old fashioned toys with the people in the home, and people talked about what holidays were like when they were young.
The management team worked with families and arranged staff and travel for people to attend family weddings, to assist families and create relaxed days for everyone. Keeping people involved as part of family gatherings and events helped to avoid any isolation.
The full inspection report can be found at: www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-112010360
Ends
For further information please contact CQC Regional Engagement Manager, John Scott on 0778 9875809 or, for media enquiries, call the press office on 020 7448 9401 during office hours.
Journalists wishing to speak to the press office outside of office hours can find out how to contact the team here www.cqc.org.uk/media/our-media-office (Please note: the duty press officer is unable to advise members of the public on health or social care matters). For general enquiries, please call 03000 61 61 61.