Enter and view: Castlemead Care Home

This is an Enter and View report by Healthwatch Milton Keynes.

Healthwatch Milton Keynes visited Castlemead Care Home. A total of 24 residents and also some family members were spoken to during the visit. It was an announced visit.

There are recommendations in this report.

• A suggestion has been made to all Care Homes to develop a Biography service. This could be carried out by a local school or parish volunteers. Residents can record memories of their life or may wish to write letters to specific people in their family. Photos could be included, the biography can be as short or long as they want, this can be incorporated into existing reminiscence therapy sessions.
• If help is required with activities or support for residents with dementia, it may be useful to contact a local memory club.
• Explore different methods of cleaning spills in bedrooms, on the first and second floor particularly, several rooms had very sticky floors mainly around seating areas.
• As part of the refurbishment plan, consider including the replacement of ‘blown’ double-glazing in some of the upstairs bedroom windows, as this is the only outside view for some residents.
• Review the flooring in one of the bedrooms that has carpet near the window and vinyl in the remainder of the room, the carpet is past a stage where it could be cleaned, this was discussed with the manager on the day of the visit.
• Consider ways of alleviating isolation for those residents that have mobility issues, more one to one time with care staff, more time in group situations, enlist the help of volunteer groups such as befriending services to sit and talk with residents.

There are follow up actions in this report. They are detailed in the provider response at the end of the report.