Enter and view: Ferndale, Central Bedfordshire

Healthwatch Central Bedfordshire conducted an announced Enter and View visit on 26 February 2015 to Ferndale Care Home. The home has 30 rooms providing care for people with intermediate care needs as well as those needing full assistance. Four residents were fully independent one of whom was awaiting transfer to their own home. The average age of residents is 90 – one resident is 102 years old. Residents as well as several relatives and members of staff were engaged with using survey and observational methods.

The findings show that at the time of the visit, the home was operating to a good standard of care with regard to dignity and respect with staff interacting with residents positively and regularly including just checking periodically. Residents looked tidy, clean and well cared for. The residents spoken to stated they were comfortable in the home and quite happy. Family members spoke highly of the care afforded to their relatives. Residents spoken to were generally happy with the meals, the menu was balanced and nutritious and mealtimes were suitable for the residents. The home has no official resident group or association; this has been attempted in the past but there was no interest shown by residents. The home does however hold regular resident/relative/staff meetings to discuss topics such as menu choice and general home duties. Whilst there were activities taking place and residents stated they were impressed with those available, the report noted that the Housekeeper acts as an Activities Coordinator, and states that activities are very minimal due to the average age of the residents and limited capabilities. A concern was raised by staff that the toilet pans were too low and should be higher to meet residents’ needs; a recommendation to address this was included in the report. It was also noted that there are insufficient staff available on occasion resulting in a lack of cover in the lounge areas if the attending carer is called away, hence a recommendation was made for the home to ensure that adequate cover is available at all times, taking into account the geography of the home and the welfare of residents. It was also recommended that the report be shared with residents and their relatives to allow them the opportunity to comment further should they wish to do so.

The service provider responded positively to the report and its recommendations stating that the home was advertising for additional permanent staff which will in turn eliminate agency usage in the home. Furthermore, contractors have been requested to attend the home with a view to replace another toilet with another disabled height toilet.