Enter and view: Beane River View Residential Care Home

Healthwatch Hertfordshire gather information on people’s experiences of health and social care services and there are times when it is appropriate for Healthwatch Hertfordshire to see and hear for themselves how services are being delivered: these visits are called ‘Enter and View’, they are not inspections.

Healthwatch Hertfordshire visited Beane River View Residential Care Home on Tuesday 25th March 2014.

The summary of findings highlighted areas in relation to patient feedback, staff feedback and observation. The report informs the home seems to be well maintained and well cared for, although some of the high traffic areas are marked and worn. The general ambience seems very homely as described by one relative. There is a genuinely friendly and welcoming atmosphere and the resident’s generally seem well settled, happy and well cared for. There was only one resident’s relative present during our visit and she was very happy with the home at present. She did voice concerns about it in the past when different management was in place, but since the manger has been in post she said care has vastly improved and she now has no worries. Staff that we spoke to were happy and satisfied that they were well trained for the work they had to do. The only downside was not having enough time to socialise more with the residents due to work load. Due to the residents communicational difficulties it was hard to gain information from other than a few during this visit. Findings not witnessed by ourselves are based on information supplied by staff.

The report contains 9 recommendations with 2 immediate actions relating to call bells and equipment.