Enter and View: Ashby House 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 Ashby House 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

Ashby House is a purpose-built single storey care home, registered to provide nursing, dementia, or personal care for up to 64 people. At the time of our visit, 61 people were living at Ashby House. The Manager has been in place for several years so knows the home and residents well. 

Ages ranged from 68 to 94 with an average age of 86 years. The duration of stay in the care home of those residents spoken with ranged from 3 months to 6 years. We spoke to 5 residents who had been living at Ashby House for less than 1 year, and 4 who had lived at Ashby House for a year or more.

What people told us:

"More staff would be nice, they are always so busy, never time to stop and chat” 
“Some staff just get the job done, don’t bother to talk, just too busy’” 
“Some staff are a bit rough with personal care” 
’‘Cleaners are amazing, do a great job"

Some residents experiencing incontinence reported feeling they are being rationed when they are given a daily maximum allowance of products. They said that if this number were exceeded, they were not changed, or else they were given nothing more than a hand towel.

Residents told us that they were able to choose their meals, but also told us that the menu was very repetitive.

Residents made it clear in our conversations that they had been very aware that there had not been many activities organised or offered over the past few months. Those who have limited mobility, and/ or do not have relatives that can visit more regularly or are able to take them out, told us that this has been a very difficult time for them.

Our recommendations include:

• Ensure that the planned programme of works includes and prioritises the general maintenance, such as working showers, that have the greatest impact on residents.
• We suggest that it might be useful for both staff and residents if the CNWL Incontinence team were asked to come in and offer staff some refresher training on the correct use of continence products.
• The management team should consider spending some time at the Home during the night shift to observe and support night staff. This may lead to uncovering training needs or opportunities that may otherwise be overlooked.
• Consider reallocating staff tasks around mealtimes so they can assist more people to eat with their fellow residents.