St Nicholas 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 requires improvement. At this assessment the rating has changed to good. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

This service scored 70 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Staff treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Most people spoke positively about the care they received and told us they were supported by staff who were always kind and respectful. Comments included, “They [staff] are very good indeed, always knock on my door. They do respect me; they know I like to have a sleep during the day and stay up late at night” and “Staff knock on the door before coming in.” One person did not feel every staff member regarded them with the same degree of respect and told us, “Staff are lovely, but you get the odd one, come into your room without knocking and shout what do you want?” and “The care is rushed, I would prefer to wash first thing, but it depends on staff levels.” Family members spoke positively of the staff who worked at the service and felt they supported people with kindness. One told us, “The staff are lovely, and [Name] is really well looked after. You can’t fault it.”

The provider treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met their needs and preferences. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics. Family members commented, “Staff know [Name’s] needs well” and “[The registered manager] found out [Name] is catholic and arranged for a priest to come in.” People had care plans designed around their needs. These were regularly reviewed and monitored. People were encouraged, with the support of their families in choosing décor for their bedrooms and personalising their private spaces.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. Staff encouraged people to make day to day choices and do as much as they could for themselves. People told us, “I am very happy with everything. I’m really independent with most things but [staff] are always there when I need them” and “You can choose when you get up and get a shower.” People were supported to maintain and develop important relationships, and we saw many visitors coming and going during our assessment. One family member told us, “We all visit every day. There are no problems with visiting, they prefer not at mealtimes but don’t refuse us.” The opportunity for people to participate in meaningful activities both at home and in the community had greatly improved since our last inspection. Activity workers arranged for entertainers to come to the service, people also told us they went to the cinema, local clubs and shops. People told us, “They have social things like quizzes and artists singing,” “They have days out. We went to Southport for a day out which was good, and they have their own bus” and “I go to all different places with [staff].” One of the younger people living at the service attended college and people were encouraged to develop new skills such as cooking. We observed a person utilising technology including a touch screen activity table and accessing a music system to play their favourite music. Other people chose to spend time in their comfort of their own bedroom and not participate in the activities within the service.

The provider 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. We observed warm and friendly interactions. Staff spoke to people in a respectful manner and, although busy, were attentive to peoples requests for care. People told us, “Staff take time to talk to you and there is a good atmosphere” and “Staff are lovely, they know your name and are very kind.” Staff demonstrated compassion when supporting people through periods of distress or confusion. For example, one person became disorientated in the evening time and needed reassurance as to his whereabouts. Another person was experiencing poor health and staff identified they may be experiencing discomfort and contacted the GP for advice.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. There were systems for staff to speak about their work through individual and team meetings. Staff told us they felt supported by the management team.