Enter and view: Sunnyside Residential Care Home

Healthwatch Liverpool carried out an Enter and View visit to Sunnyside Residential Care Home on 31 October 2017. The home provides residential care for older people, including some residents living with dementia. Overall, Healthwatch found a welcoming and caring environment where residents appeared comfortable and spoke positively about the service. Staff interactions were observed to be warm, respectful and supportive, and residents frequently praised staff attitudes and the sense of companionship within the home. 

Residents were generally satisfied with the food, activities and healthcare support available. The home offered a variety of activities including bingo, exercise sessions, animal therapy, outings and community events linked to a local church project. Residents also had access to visiting healthcare professionals, including GPs, district nurses, chiropodists and dentists, with staff supporting attendance at appointments when needed. 

Healthwatch found the environment clean and well maintained but identified opportunities to make it more dementia-friendly. Bedroom doors were not personalised, and some handrails did not contrast clearly with walls, which could make orientation more difficult for people living with dementia. Some activity information displayed around the home also appeared out of date. 

Healthwatch concluded that Sunnyside provided a good standard of care with positive resident experiences and strong staff-resident relationships. Recommendations focused on improving dementia-friendly design by personalising bedroom doors and using contrasting colours more consistently throughout the home to help support orientation and independence.