Enter and View Report: Charlton Park Care Home

Healthwatch Greenwich visited Charlton Park Care Home in Greenwich to ascertain the quality of life, experience, and views of residents, relatives, and carers.

Executive Summary:

Charlton Park Care Home provides a pleasant environment for residents. Residents in the care home are treated with care, kindness, and courtesy. The home is clean, however in some areas the interior decor is dated and tired. Repair work, and overall updating and refreshing is needed. The home confirmed that modernisation and refurbishment is an ongoing process. This is something they told Healthwatch more than two years ago and they were surprised by the slow pace of refurbishment and would have liked to have seen more progress. The weakness in security, raised in Healthwatch's last report, was resolved. Standard security measures are in place and practiced. While a range of activities are offered, Healthwatch would have liked to have seen more dementia friendly activities and more engagement with the local community, including spiritual care. A number of rooms and facilities were used as storage areas, and not available to residents and it was rather sad to see that so many residents stayed in their rooms all day – even at mealtimes. Information provision could be improved, such as re-starting relatives meetings – online or in person, and making sure information on the complaints process is widely and freely available in the home.

Recommendations:

1. Encourage residents to eat in social settings, with others, in communal dining areas.
2. Culturally inclusive food to be included in the menu, in particular for residents with dementia that may lack the capacity to request it.
3. More dementia-friendly activities to be offered.
4. Encourage and develop opportunities for community input into activities for residents.
5. Review storage practice and ensure facilities are accessible for resident’s use
6. Restart opportunities for spiritual care, either online or in person.
7. Re-establish Relatives Meetings.
8. Update and renew decoration and furniture and complete maintenance/minor repairs throughout the home.
9. Improve garden (including garden furniture) to make it more appealing for residents.
10. Keep reception area free of clutter.
11. Provide information and guidance on the complaint procedure in reception area and on notice boards throughout the home.