Enter and view: Wayside Care Home

Healthwatch Worcestershire conducted an announced Enter and View visit. This is a way of ensuring that all services delivered are acceptable and the welfare of the resident, patient or other service-user is not compromised in any way.

Wayside Care Home provides accommodation and personal care for a maximum of 30 people, some of whom may have dementia related illnesses. Wayside, along with other care homes, was selected for the visit simply on the basis of various criteria such as achieving a mixture of large and small homes, those that provide nursing care and those that do not, achieving a geographical spread across the County and a mixture of large and smaller providers. It was not selected on the basis of past or present performance.

Healthwatch Worcestershire visited Wayside Care Home, on 07/10/2015.

The summary of findings highlighted areas in relation to patient feedback, staff feedback and observation. These findings include residents and relatives that they spoke to told them they were happy with the care they received and the activities available. They were told about a range of group activities that take place throughout the week at the home. They saw the Activities Coordinator speaking and engaging with some of the residents on an individual basis and were told about how activities are planned and evaluated. There were, however, quite long periods during our visit when residents in the main lounge did not receive any interaction from staff. They were told that they are currently developing their understanding of engaging with residents with dementia, by working towards the Dementia Service Standard. They saw there are opportunities to use this learning to increase the resources available and create an environment within the communal areas that would increase engagement, interaction and stimulation for residents, especially those living with dementia.

The recommendations within the report reflect the findings, and are in relation to themes of resources, Involvement of relatives and the local community and volunteers.