Enter and view: Holly Cottage Care home
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Healthwatch Norfolk undertook an Enter and View visit to Holly Cottage on 12 October 2022. They spoke to residents, members of staff, and interviewed three family members of residents after the visit.
Holly Cottage is an independent residential care home. According to the owner-managers, it has been operating as a home for people with learning disabilities and autistic people (among other conditions) for around 14 years. The home provides care for up to 12 adults with a range of different conditions.
The décor is homely rather than institutional, and much of the floor is carpeted. It is clean and tidy throughout.
A range of activities were on offer for residents. However, the managers stated that some residents’ funding packages do not allow them to go on many outings.
The home staff seemed to put great emphasis on knowing their residents well as individuals, and using this as the starting point of their work.
The family members were keen to emphasise how well they felt the staff understood their relatives and were all very complimentary about the home and its staff. The staff treated people with kindness and gentle humour and were able to talk at length about the people they were caring for.
The owner-managers were unhappy with the support that was provided for them by Norfolk County Council (NCC) and made a number of complaints related to funding.
Overall, Healthwatch Norfolk were impressed at the great efforts that staff at Holly Cottage go to, to provide care for their residents in a way that is skillfully adapted to their preferences and often quite complex needs. Work clearly needs to be done to repair their relationship with Norfolk County Council, however.