Enter and view: Alexander Court

This was an announced Enter and View visit. Healthwatch Sheffield talked to 13 residents, 3 relatives, 3 carers, 2 domestic staff and 2 nurses.

Alexander Court is a 56-bedded home with provision for both nursing and residential care. On the day of the visit they had 8 empty beds but were expecting some new residents. The manager has only been in post for 2 weeks and understandably has not yet set up everything he plans to do going forward. He has managed to make the staff feel optimistic about the future and had a good grasp of the issues that need to be tackled. Healthwatch Sheffield were pleased to hear that there are plans to gather more ongoing feedback from residents and increase participation.

The report included recommendation which are : Consider fitting a proper hand rail in the corridors; consider using different colours in the corridors to help residents find their way around; improve the signage on the bedroom doors; change the books in the library more regularly (possibly a charity shop might help do this cheaply than a book shop); review the activities to add more variety, and discuss them with the residents; ensure that the resident involved in staff meetings is supported to play a full part and to gather the views of other residents.

The report does not include a response from the service provider.