Enter and view: Kallar Lodge Residential Home, Barking and Dagenham

Healthwatch Barking and Dagenham conducted an Enter and View visit to Kallar Lodge Residential Home on 27 February 2015. The team spoke with 12 residents, all female, on the day of the visit. 2 friends of residents were also engaged with during the visit. The team gathered service users experience of four key areas: nutrition, personal care, social activities and staff interaction. The team also observed general interaction between staff and residents and meal times.

Residents were happy with all four areas although the feedback was, at times, not clear or completely accurate as some were living with dementia. Regarding nutrition, all residents found the quality of the food satisfactory. Not all residents were aware of the social activities available to them and some expressed that they would like more varied activities. The 2 friends of residents Healthwatch engaged with suggested more activities for the residents and noted that residents may get more involved with activities if they were made aware of them ahead of time. All residents who received help with their personal hygiene felt they were treated with respect and dignity by the staff. It was observed that all residents were clean and quickly helped when something was spilt or needed to go to the toilet. All residents expressed that they were very happy with the interaction they had with staff. Staff were considered, by the team, to be friendly and quick to respond to residents’ needs. As a result of this positive feedback, the home is recommended by the residents and friends engaged with on the day of the visit.

Healthwatch Barking and Dagenham recommended increased communication with family and friends of residents about activities including outings.

Kallar Lodge Residential Home responded to the report and informed Healthwatch Barking and Dagenham that the recommended practices were being acted on.