Enter and view: Stonehouse Care Home

Healthwatch Cheshire West conducted an unannounced Enter and View on Stonehouse Care Home, a privately owned dual registered care home with 35 bedrooms on 25 August 2016. Approximately 20 staff members are employed in the home.

The first visit was arranged as part of Healthwatch Cheshire West’s Enter and View Schedule.

Observation by the Enter and View representatives reported that: the facilities and equipment are clean and well maintained. There is a positive feel to the home and staff were friendly and caring and interacted positively with service users. All rooms are private and have en-suite facilities. Extensions to the existing building served to make the inside feel a little closed in with little natural light in some parts. During the visit there was not a lot going on or much socialising, residents in the lounges were either watching tv or sleeping. One negative observation was that there was a possible infection control risk in one communal toilet.

Residents commented that they liked living there and were happy with the staff and enjoyed the food.

Some general themes identified included that there were few organised activities in the home, no activity co-ordinator or use of volunteers. Recommendations were made about hiring an activities co-ordinator to increase engagement from residents including outings and activities. Additionally ideas were put forward to improve the outside space to include more greenery and decoration in the outside spaces. There was no service provider response in the report.