Enter and view: Tandy Court Care Home

Healthwatch Birmingham conducted an Enter and View visit to Tandy Court Care Home, a privately owned care home for up to 40 residents. The visit took place on Friday 9th June 2017. The aim of the visit was to listen to residents' views of their care, focusing particularly on how the staff obtain and use residents' feedback; and to help the organisations that fund and regulate social care in Birmingham to understand residents' perspectives of the care provided at Tandy Court, particularly whether residents felt that the staff were treating them with dignity and respect.

Key findings from interviews with residents and relatives included: the majority of residents at Tandy Court felt staff listened to them and met their care needs; the residents appreciated the efforts of the activities coordinator. The Manager informed the Enter and View Representatives that they hold monthly residents/relatives meetings, and the Manager and staff explained that they take action because of what they hear from residents. Observations by the Enter and View Representatives included: staff interactions with residents were warm and friendly; most staff talked to, smiled and appeared to listen to the residents; staff addressed residents by name; eye contact and tone of voice were good; and staff were welcoming to visitors and treated each other with respect.

The Manager responded to the findings of the Enter and View visit in a positive way, outlining the changes being made as a result of Healthwatch Birmingham's visit. These changes included: a new screen was ordered to ensure that the dignity of residents would be protected if they choose to be assessed in a communal area; the cleaning of the communal toilets was being monitored; the home implemented a new system for monitoring the laundry to help ensure that items were not lost; staff will keep residents and relatives informed about the ongoing training of staff; and staff will encourage visitors and staff to bring in their pets, if safe to do so.