Queen Elizabeth Care Centre

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 remained good. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

This service scored 65 (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, or respect their privacy and dignity. People and their relatives told us that on the whole staff were kind and caring in their approach. One person told us, “They are always kind and I’m treated with dignity.” A relative said, “They are very good. They treat him very well.” However, some people told us they were not asked about the gender of the staff they wished to support them. One person told us, "I had to get used to the male carers but they’re all very good. I didn’t get a choice.” Other people told us where they had made a request for female only carers this had been respected. We observed people were supported with dignity and their privacy was respected. Staff were seen to knock on people’s doors, greet people warmly and introduce themselves where appropriate. Staff told us they took care to respect people’s dignity when supporting them with their personal care. One staff member told us, “Doors are shut and the curtains closed. It’s automatic to do these things. I would use towels to cover people, so they feel warm and have privacy.” People were able to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries and were supported host events in their home. One person told us about their recent birthday day party and the buffet and cake staff had organised for their friends and family. They told us, “I thought it was very kind of them to do that.”

The provider did not always treat people as individuals or take into account their backgrounds. Staff were attentive to people and made sure their care, support and treatment met their needs and preferences. People told us they felt staff knew them well and took into account how they liked things to be done. One person told us, “They know the help I need. It’s not much but they know what to do.” One relative told us, “The carers here are more attentive and kinder compared to her previous home. They seem to know my relative already.” Despite these comments we found that although staff were aware of people’s needs and preferences regarding their care, they were not always aware of people’s life histories. Staff were unable to share details of what people enjoyed talking about, previous occupations or what was important to them. We found some of this information was available to staff within people’s care plans although this was not used to help generate conversation and to build trusting relationships, particularly for those people living with dementia. People’s religious needs were respected. People were supported to attend a local church service each Sunday with staff supporting them. In addition, a priest and representatives from a local temple visited each month.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. People told us their independence was respected and felt able to make their own decisions. One person told us, “It really is like home from home here. I do a lot of my own personal care, but they are there if I need them.” We observed staff understood what people were able to do without support but were aware of when to step in. For example, one person was able to eat the majority of their meal without support. Staff were observant of the person and quietly stepped into help them when they began to struggle. Another person chose to walk independently with their walking aid. Staff chatted with the person whilst walking with them so they could help to stabilise their walking aid should this be needed. Throughout the day of our inspection, we observed staff offering people choices such as where they wished to sit and how they wanted to spend their time. One staff member told us, “We always give them choice; we ask them what they want. Give options to see what they prefer and ask if people are ready to get up as they might want to sleep later.”

People told us they enjoyed their food and were always offered a choice. One person said, “The food is very good. We have three meals a day. If I’m hungry in the evening. I can always ask for more sandwiches. There are plenty of drinks.” A second person told us, “If there is something we don’t fancy they will make something else.” We observed people being offered a range of options at lunchtime which included meals which were culturally relevant.

The provider listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. On the whole people and their relative’s felt staff were responsive to their needs and we observed this to be the case. However, whilst people felt there were sufficient staff, we did receive comments regarding staff coming to support people then asking them to wait and then appearing to forget they had called. One person told us, “They have come in and told me they won’t be a minute and then I have waited an hour.” They described this caused them discomfort and anxiety. Other people described staff responding promptly to any requests they made for support. During our inspection we observed staff acted quickly to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. We observed a staff member go to sit with a person who was showing signs of being upset. They distracted the person by talking about their family and when they would see them next. We also observed staff responding to someone’s happiness when a song they liked started to play. The staff member joined them in a dance and shared the moment with them.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. Staff told us they felt supported by the registered manager and felt they listened and responded to concerns. One staff member told us, “I feel supported by the manager. She has an open-door policy, always willing to have a chat. If we bring a problem to her, she deals with it straight away. She is really good.” The registered manager told us they felt it was essential staff felt listened to and supported in their roles. They told us, “I can see improvement since having a consistent management. Training was an issue, so I arranged extra training and supervision and things started to get better. They are getting more confident, and they know who to listen to and who to follow.” In addition, the registered manager promoted staff seeking support from the nursing team, so they knew there was a support network available when the registered manager was away from the home. Regular staff meetings and departmental meetings were held where staff could raise any concerns and discuss best practice.