Enter and view: Heartly Green Residential Home

Healthwatch Salford carried out an Enter and View visit to Heartly Green Residential Home, a residential and nursing care home with places for up to 30 residents.

The home was evaluated against eight quality indicators: strong, visible management; staff with the time and skills to do their jobs; good knowledge of each individual resident and how their needs may be changing; a varied programme of activities; quality, choice and flexibility around food and mealtimes; ensuring residents can regularly see health professionals such as GPs, dentists, opticians or chiropodists; accommodating residents’ personal, cultural and lifestyle needs; and being an open environment where feedback is actively sought and used.

Healthwatch Salford found that generally, Heartly Green Residential Home appeared to be a caring and well managed home. There were some personal touches that demonstrated that the staff were striving to put the needs of the residents first. A large variety of activities were provided for residents. Staff were responsive but busy, and changes had been made to catering which had upset some residents.

Based on these findings, Healthwatch Salford made eight recommendations on: developing a quient communal area; continuing to monitor the catering company; ensuring new staff are able to learn quickly about residents' likes and dislikes; ensuring that a regularly updated staff board with photographs and names of staff is clearly visible near the main entrance; continuing to ask residents about the trips they would like to go on and regularly updating their preferences; being mindful of the Accessible Information Standard and related record-keeping; working with a local befriending service, which would enable staff to get on with their caring role; and developing links to an independent advocacy service to assist residents. The report includes a response from the service provider.