Enter and view: Merlin Manor Care Home

Healthwatch Hartlepool undertook an enter and view visit to Merlin Manor on 29 August and 2 September 2024.  They spoke to 17 people.

Healthwatch found Merlin Manor to be clean, warm, spacious, odour free and very welcoming. The building is new and the corridors are wide and accessible. 

During the visits, Healthwatch observed staff engaging with residents in a caring and respectful manner and most residents gave positive feedback about their interactions with staff. 

Healthwatch noted that progress had been made in addressing most of the recommendations in the report which followed our last visit. Staffing levels has increased and greater use of IT was being made by staff for reporting and monitoring purposes. 

Communal areas had been redecorated since the previous visit and were now brighter and more welcoming. Improvements to landscaping are ongoing with a view to making the outside space, safer, more attractive and more accessible for residents.

Staff spoke highly of the training opportunities that were available to them, and several said that they had either undertaken or were about to undertake more advanced dementia training. However, Healthwatch noted that the print size on weekly menus had not increased and that residents are still asked each morning for their food choices for the day. This can be confusing for residents with memory loss as they may not remember their choices later in the day.

 Finally, there is a wide range of internal and external activities which residents can get involved in and the hours worked by the activity coordinators has increased since our last December visit.