Enter and View: The Willows Chester

This is an enter and view report by Healthwatch Cheshire West. Healthwatch representatives visited The Willows care home to engage residents about their care.

Key findings include:

• Staff work well caring for residents and residents looked well cared for.
• Residents are encouraged to come out of their bedrooms and use the communal lounges; this eliminates social isolation.
• Residents are given choice - the care home promotes a ‘person centred approach’.
• The Activities Coordinator is working hard to deliver activities that are suitable to the needs and preferences of the residents and is open to suggestions. The activities planner is a work in progress, but you can see there is effort from the care home in building up the activityplanner. They have links with Healthbox who are supporting Activity Coordinators and linking them from other care homes to support one another. 
• The domestic team works well to keep the home clean and tidy.

There are recommendations in this report:

• To have more activities planners on display, a printable version to give residents to keep in their bedrooms, one displayed in reception for visitors to see and planners on display in communal lounges. 
• Consider recruiting an additional Activities Coordinator to help support the current Coordinator so that the care home can offer activities seven days a week to keep residents stimulated and in a routine of joining activities. (The Manager shared that they are looking to increase the hours, Healthwatch recommend that this would be beneficial to the residents at the care home.)
• Have fruit available for residents’ snack trolley and water/juice out for residents to access especially in the warmer weather.
• Connect with pre-schools and schools which may allow children to come and visit the residents. Arranging for the residents and children to read, paint, bake or sing together would be enjoyable and stimulating for the residents and grow connections with the wider community.
• Surveys could be given to residents, friends and family with the explanation that they can choose to complete them. Surveys give residents, friends and family the opportunity for their voice to be 
  heard. 

The service has acknowledged the report and only made slight additions.