Enter and View : Russell Villa
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Healthwatch Croydon carried out an announced Enter and View at Russell Villa, on 14th March 2017, to observe and assess the activities and staff interactions with the service users. Russell Villa is run by Care Tech Community Services and is a male only residential care home which at the time was accommodating 8 service users with learning disabilities, autism and challenging behaviours. On the day of the visit there were 3 residents present and only one took part in the interview.
The home had a newly appointed manager and tight security to keep the residents safe.
The report identifies the reception area to be bright clean and welcoming. There were several other rooms that provide activities such as painting, pool table, TV etc overlooking a garden which was used in the summer months for BBQs.
The team found the home generally clean and tidy with no odours except for one of the single occupancy flats which had a strong smell of urine. There was a general sense of calm and the staffing levels seemed appropriate with good interaction between staff and residents.
The Healthwatch team talked to one resident and two staff members. The resident expressed that he felt supported and safe when his carer was with him and seemed to have an obvious bond with his key worker. Focussing on the roles of the staff in supporting service users with autism and challenging behaviours, one staff member, a senior carer, mentioned that social life is important, and the service user is always asked what they would like to do and where possible these meets are met.
The report concludes that the home provided person-centred approach to meet the individual needs of the service users, and there was good continuity of care.
The report recommends that the downstairs flat is given a deep clean due to the odour of urine on the day of the visit.
In response Russell Vila insisted that there was no odour of urine in the flat as the parents of the client who occupies the current flat are very much involved in his wellbeing such that if there were to be a hint of odour of any sort in his flat, they would have raised concerns verbally and in writing.