Enter and view: The Lodge Care Home

Healthwatch South Tyneside undertook an enter and view visit to the Lodge Residential Care Home on 13 March and 5 April 2024.  They spoke to 34 residents and family members.

Personal care: Resident needs being met and quality of life. 

90% of residents responded positively to this question. The two negative responses related to a perceived shortage of staff being the reason staff didn’t come to help them when needed. Family member responses were more mixed, with 54% responding positively. The negative responses included: no facilities to take residents out of the home; personal hygiene with residents not always appearing clean; unkempt hair; deterioration in teeth with no dental checks; personal items going missing and poor room hygiene. 

Choices: Enough choice around food and activities

 Food: Those residents who responded about food were mainly positive, saying they looked forward to meals, it was good food and there was plenty of it. Only one resident said that the food choice was not good and although staff had been told about their personal preferences they were not always adhered to. Of the family members who responded to our question about food, 60% told us they were happy about the choice of food for residents with the other 40% telling us they did not think there was sufficient choice, especially for those on a special diet. One commented “food like school dinners - not very appealing”.

Activities: Resident responses to activities were mixed. Two thirds of those who answered were positive saying there was quite a lot going on and mentioned crosswords, regular quiz, dancing, baking and bingo. One third was less positive with reasons being not enough choice of activities, and others saying they were not encouraged to join in activities. Of the family members who commented on the choice of activities for residents, 63% were happy, and the others said their loved ones were not able to take part in activities and it was not clear how these residents were encouraged to take part. 

Enough staff to meet residents’ needs 

Mainly positive from residents and family members, with some mixed responses where responses included ‘mostly’ or ‘at times’ with one resident commenting “there are a lot of agency staff. Not many staff on at a night time”. 8 Residents feeling they are treated with kindness, dignity, and respect. All 16 residents who responded to this question said yes. All ten family members who responded to this question said yes.

Response times: Do residents have to wait a long time for staff to see what they needed. 

Of residents who responded, half said there were no issues, and someone came when needed, the other half said that sometimes they did and sometimes they had to wait of staff to attend to them. Of the family members who responded, 75% said they had no concerns and staff responded in a timely manner, 25% had concerns around wait times as a result of being short staffed. 

Any other comments on the stay / treatment at The Lodge. 

Residents’ responses in the main were to state they were happy with the home and the staff – a couple highlighted that some staff were more attentive than others. They also took the opportunity to raise that there were no facilities to go for a day out unless they had family members who could take them. Family member comments were more focused on their concerns such as staff not ensuring residents attend meal times, not managing incontinence in a timely manner, medical needs not being addressed as they should, bed bars not being engaged, lack of documentation and communication, concerns not being listened to, bedding not changed frequently enough, untrained staff, no opportunity for visits outside the home, personal possessions going missing, lack of dental support, clothes not being changed for several days.