Rivermead

Updated 6 February 2025

Date of assessment 15 March to 21 March 2025.

Rivermead is a residential care home providing personal care to 33 people aged 65 and over who are living with dementia. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises, and the care provided. Both were looked at during this assessment.

We looked at 20 quality statements from the safe, caring, responsive and well-led questions and found areas of good practice. The scores for these areas have been combined with scores based on the key question ratings from the last inspection and our overall rating has changed from Requires Improvement to Good.

At the time of this inspection 28 people were using the service.

People were respected and valued as individuals and were empowered to be fully involved in their care. Staff were caring and there was a strong culture within the service of treating people with dignity and respect. The home was clean and well maintained and dementia friendly. There were enough staff to care for people and staff were observed to be unrushed, attentive and caring. It was evident that staff knew people well and knew how to support people in line with their preferences. People experienced positive outcomes because staff fully understood their needs and worked collaboratively with other organisations to ensure people received the care they needed.

Updated 6 February 2025

People and their relatives were positive about the quality of their care and the caring and compassionate attitudes of the staff team. Comments included, “The carers are simply the best. I feel the best in here because of kind, caring and happy carers. They do make me a happier person; I think of them as friends and not staff.” And “This place fits me the way I am beautifully.”

People and their relatives told us there were enough staff available to meet their needs and spend time with them. The service had a warm and welcoming atmosphere where visitors were welcomed and encouraged. The premises was homely and adapted to meet the needs of people living with dementia.

The service was well managed. People, relatives and staff were very positive about the leadership of the service and praised the staff and the management team. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service. Actions were taken and improvements were made when required. Staff felt well supported and said the registered manager was open and approachable. The service worked in partnership with outside agencies.