Enter and view: Holmers House, Buckinghamshire

This is an Enter and View report from Healthwatch Buckinghamshire (HWB). Four authorised representatives made a visit to the home on the 28th August 2015.

The team have summarised their findings for this report through the following themes: How people are treated; personal choice; 'just like being at home; privacy and quality of life. This was an unscheduled Enter and View visit in that the care home were given up to 2 weeks’ notice of the intention to visit but not the time and date. Authorised representatives noted what they observed and were told. Holmers House provides residential care, in 3 units, for those over 65 who are living with dementia. There were no relatives present when the HWB team visited, and they talked to the manager, deputy manager, 6 members of staff and observed and/or talked to 20 of the 46 residents.

The team's summary of findings was as follows:

Some examples of good dignity in care but also some where more thought could be given to person-centred care by certain individuals.

The HWB team made the following recommendations

- ensure all staff take time to talk directly to all individuals at eye level

- encourage all staff to interact more on a one to one basis with residents

- ensure all staff have an opportunity to attend dignity in care and person centred training

- repair (eg a damaged garden chair) or replace (a missing ceiling tile exposing wiring) items as soon as possible.

- plant up the empty hanging baskets and look at adding more seasonal colour in the garden. Perhaps the residents could get involved in this activity.

-move soiled linen bins further away from the dining areas

Service Provider Response

We thank the team for visiting our home and meeting with our staff and residents. We have taken on board their comments and have already shared the draft report with our Person Centred Planning Trainer, who is scheduling some bespoke training for the staff working in this home to address some of the issues raised. We would have liked more information regarding how the star ratings have been arrived at as the balance between positive observations and areas for improvement are different throughout the report but the rating of three stars is the same throughout the report. Some of the areas raised were already being addressed prior to the visit. For example we had already started working with a local employer whose staff will be helping us improve our outdoor space. We found some of the references in the report confusing and did request further clarification and examples to help us develop our action plan, but we were not provided with this information, which was disappointing. We would like to thank you for your report.