Enter and view: Ashfields Care Home

Healthwatch Norfolk conducted an Enter and View visit to Ashfields Care Home, a home providing residential and dementia care, on 21 February 2018 as part of a planned programme of work to explore the wellbeing of residents in care homes across the county.

The report is very positive overall with notable observations being the large array of activities available to residents such as bread baking, a weekly outing to the Norwich Forum for singing, and celebrations such as Pancake Day, Chinese New Year, and Burns Night.

The surroundings are varied, providing a range of 'moods': an Elvis area; a sensory lounge; a snooze area; gardens; and two secure paved courtyards (one covered) that residents can choose to enjoy as they wish. The home encourages the use of IT for residents to communicate with relatives when they live too far away to visit and they use Skype for this.

There are menus displayed each day in the dining room, with three choices each meal time, and residents make their choice when seated at their tables. The Enter and View Authorised Representatives were told by a resident, and a visiting relative who often joined her mother for lunch, that the food was very good. There are snacks and drinks available throughout the day with staff closely monitoring the intake of food and drinks for residents and weight is regularly checked.

The two recommendations made in this report suggested that the home continue the current good practice. The provider response was very positive and extended an invitation to people who read the report to come and visit the home for a cup of tea and cake.