The Willows Care Home

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 provider involved people and treated them

with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has

changed to requires improvement: This meant people did not always feel well-supported, cared

for or treated with dignity and respect.

This service scored 60 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The provider treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their

privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

People told us staff were caring. One person told us, “Staff are lovely, kind and hardworking,

they look after us well.” A relative told us, “They are friendly and very caring. Just nice and

hardworking. I get the impression they know what they are doing.”

We received mixed feedback from people and relatives, indicating some improvements needed to ensure people's preferences were met. For example, one relative told us, "The food is not to [person's] liking; it needs to be a more extensive diet." Another relative told us how their loved one preferred a particular cup they had brought in, which had since gone missing, resulting in them drinking less. However, most people and their relatives told us their needs and preferences were met. People told us they were given choices and could do as they wished within the service. For example, one person said, "I have 3 well-cooked meals a day, they do give us a choice, veg meals or alternatives, it's all ok no issues at all", and "I made this room my own, I have my books, this shelf is mine, and I have a little fridge I keep some drinks I like."

The provider did not always promote people’s independence, so people did not always know

their rights and have choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

We observed some people did not have their food or drinks left within reach of them, this meant

people were unable to maintain their independence where they would be able to manage this

task themselves. However, people that were able to ask for support or could do things

themselves were able to. People told us, “I think this is a wonderful place for people who can

say what they need because help is always there. Maybe it’s not so easy for people who can’t

talk” and “I have a choice to remain in my room or go and spend time with others.”

The provider did not always listen to and understand people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff did not always respond to people’s needs in the moment or act to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. We observed staff were responsive to call bells however, for people who could not or did not use their call bells, we observed people call out for support and a delay in staff responses. During the inspection, there were occasions where people were calling for support and staff were not responding where inspectors activated call bells on their behalf. In response to our feedback, the provider increased staffing.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff. The provider had a number

of schemes in place to celebrate success, this included employee of the month and make a

wish. Ongoing development opportunities for staff were promoted. During our assessment, there

was an event held to highlight progression opportunities within the organisation.