Enter and View: Castlemead care home

The purpose of this Enter and View programme was to engage with residents, their relatives, or carers, to explore their overall experience of living in Castlemead care home. As well as building a picture of their general experience, we asked about experiences in relation to social isolation and physical activity.

Summary

Castlemead care home is registered to provide personal and nursing care for up to 79 residents. This purpose-built care home is carrying out an ongoing refurbishment program and is laid out over three floors. It is set in well cared for grounds and within easy walking distance of the town centre.

In respect of demographics: 10 residents were male, and fourteen residents were female the average age of residents who took part was 77 years.

What we found

"Staff were seen to be caring and patient with residents, taking time to explain what they were doing at each interaction, and responding to requests with a smile...

...Residents all seemed to like the food and family members also commented that they were welcome to join their relatives at mealtime if they wished to...Residents told us that they felt very safe and well cared for. As always, people told us they felt that staff were very busy, and when there were absences due to holidays or illness staff were even busier...

...Staff were at all times, friendly, chatty, and tried to engage with residents but as always have little time to sit and pass the time of day with residents before being needed elsewhere."

What residents told us: 

"Staff are always cheerful and polite; they are very approachable."

"They really look after her well."

"Staff couldn’t be nicer."

"They are fantastic here."

"They treat her like family."

Recommendations included:

• Explore different methods of cleaning spills in bedrooms, on the first and second floor particularly, several rooms had very sticky floors mainly around seating areas.
• As part of the refurbishment plan, consider including the replacement of ‘blown’ double-glazing in some of the upstairs bedroom windows, as this is the only outside view for some residents.
• Review the flooring in one of the bedrooms that has carpet near the window and vinyl in the remainder of the room, the carpet is past a stage where it could be cleaned, this was discussed with the manager on the day of the visit.
• Consider ways of alleviating isolation for those residents that have mobility issues, more one to one time with care staff, more time in group situations, enlist the help of volunteer groups such as befriending services to sit and talk with residents.