Enter and view: Devonshire Care Home

Healthwatch County Durham undertook an Enter and View visit to Devonshire House Care Home on 13 December 2019.  This was part of a programme of Enter and View visits using the appreciative enquiry technique. Devonshire House Care Home approached Healthwatch to discuss the programme further, they agreed to host a visit as they were keen to listen to their residents, families and carers and learn from their feedback.

At the visit Healthwatch spoke to 12 individual residents, carers, family members and staff, using a set of appreciative questions to prompt people to describe good practice they had experienced or seen.

Findings

Residents were very appreciative of the care and attitude of the staff looking after them.

People felt free to do what they wanted at the home and there were lots of activities and celebrations.  Some residents wanted more outings outside the home and services brought into the home

The homely feel of the home was important to the residents, particularly that dogs were allowed in and around the home.

Residents felt that the home made a real effort with food and refreshments, including a choice of menu and a party and cake on their birthday. The home met specific requests for food and refreshments. Residents did mention that if food was served in their own room, it wasn’t always as hot as it could be.  It was encouraging that the home was considering how best to communicate with residents about food choices in the dining room and had displayed menus that included pictures and images.

Recommendations

There were 4 recommendations, including continuing to uphold the excellent standards of care by the staff and the homely feel of the home, to improve the range of activities on offer and to monitor how they can continue to meet the food needs of residents.

The report contains a detailed response from the provider outlining the changes they intend to make and thanking Healthwatch for the positive feedback.