Enter and view: Birkdale Residential Home

Healthwatch Telford & Wrekin undertook an Enter and View visit to Birkdale Residential Care home as part of a series of engagements with local care homes.  At their visit they spoke to 8 residents, 3 relatives and visitors and 3 staff.

Findings

• People were offered choices.
• People felt all staff were nice, friendly and relaxed.
• Staff were doing their best.
• Management were supportive to residents and relatives.
• Staff felt supported by management.
• Relatives felt supported and could talk to any staff in the Home. • Staff got to know residents well in order to provide them with the right support.
• Staff communicated well with residents and relatives.
• The home uses symbols for doors but adding pictures would make things clearer.
• Some areas of the Home needed maintenance, specifically around flooring & carpets in some areas to ensure they were dementia friendly. The Home also needed decorating and freshening up.
• The lift was very small and some larger wheelchairs (such as electric) would not be able to access the second floor.

Recommendations

• Continue with good interactions with residents and relatives.
• More notices for CCTV to be made available around the home.
• Explore options to mitigate the problem with the lip on entrance door.
• Consider introducing an Activity Board or booklet to advertise what the Home offered.
• Implement a programme for maintenance and improvement of the décor of the home.
• Make all staff call points accessible.