Castleman House

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 service involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. This is the first assessment for this newly registered service. This key question has been rated good. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The service always 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 their relatives were welcomed into the service and treated as part of the Castleman House community. Staff were provided us with examples of how they ensured they promoted dignity and privacy. This included an example of respecting a person’s preference for female staff only to support them with personal care. We observed staff supporting people who were experiencing periods of emotional distress, they did this with kindness and a reassuring tone.

The service treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics. Staff treated people as individuals. Staff interacted with people using their preferred communication methods and had the relevant training to support them with this. A staff member told us, “One of our more able residents likes to help her friend who is visually impaired, and we have recently made contact with a national charity to get more aids to help their independence like bobbled cutlery to help them be confident using their knife and fork at mealtimes.” The provider had an equality and diversity policy in place. The policy detailed the providers commitment to uphold legislation and best practice to ensure people, staff and visitors were treated fairly.

The service promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. People were supported to be independent, to make choices and have control over their lives. We were assured the staff team understood the importance of this. Staff described activities they supported people with, and this was reflected in people’s care records. One staff member told us, “We have residents’ meetings, so people are in control, it’s important they are able to engage with life in their home and are in control about how much or how little they participate.” And, “We have introduced activity boxes in each cottage for people who prefer not to join in big groups.” Without exception, each person told us there were always themed events and activities to participate in.

The service listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff responded to people’s needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. People told us there were enough staff to support them with their care and support . One person said, “I can press my bell, and I never have to wait too long, they come straight away if they know I am waiting for help in the bathroom.” Staff told us handover meetings took place daily to ensure the staff member in charge of each shift could monitor and respond to people’s needs appropriately. The manager understood their responsibilities in ensuring people’s immediate needs were responded to. They had systems and process in place to support this and had oversight of people’s needs.

The service cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff, and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. Staff told us the service was a good place to work, and there had been improvements following the appointment of the manager. They said they could share ideas and were listened to. Staff told us they worked as a team and supported each other, with comments such as, “We have a team of very caring staff 24/7.” The manager had a clear understanding of their role in relation to workforce wellbeing and enablement and told us, “Castleman House has so much potential, I have seen improvements to staff morale as recruitment has picked up and we have had a focus on building the team to make a culture change.” The provider had structures and policies in place to support workforce wellbeing and enablement. Posters for access to mental health support and self-guided tools available to staff were displayed on notice boards in the service.