Enter and view: Neville House Care Home, Gargrave

Healthwatch North Yorkshire carried out an Enter and View visit to Neville House Care Home in Gargrave in June 2015. Overall, the home was found to provide a good standard of care in a clean, welcoming and community-focused environment. Residents appeared well cared for, felt safe and were generally positive about life in the home. The home benefited from strong local links, with volunteers, schoolchildren and community groups regularly interacting with residents and supporting activities. 

Staff were described as friendly, attentive and person-centred, with residents allocated a named key worker to support their individual needs. Activities were varied and included outings, shopping trips, quizzes, bingo, gardening and opportunities to stay connected with family through technology such as Skype. The home also offered day care, respite care and short-term stays, helping residents maintain independence where possible. Food provision was viewed positively, with a varied menu and alternatives available to suit preferences and dietary requirements. 

The main issues identified related to the environment and support for residents living with dementia. The home was not designed as a dementia-friendly environment and had limited dementia-specific signage or visual aids. Healthwatch observed that some residents appeared disengaged from their surroundings and felt there was scope to improve the environment and staff awareness further. Another concern was that the communal lounge music was sometimes so loud that conversations became difficult. 

Healthwatch concluded that Neville House was providing caring and responsive support, with particular strengths in community involvement, personalised care and resident wellbeing. Recommendations focused on reducing background music volume in communal areas and developing a more dementia-friendly environment through additional signage and staff training. The provider responded positively, confirming that all staff had completed dementia awareness training and that work was already underway to improve dementia-friendly features within the home.