Enter and View: Neath 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 Neath 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

Neath House is a purpose-built care home in a quiet location registered to provide residential, dementia, and personal care to a maximum of 47 residents. At the time of our visit there were 40 residents living in the Home, with a waiting list ready to occupy all available rooms as soon as they were ready for occupancy. The majority of people living at Neath House are living with a form of dementia.

What we found

There are many long-term staff at Neath House. The Manager has been in post for over eight years which is good for staff retention and resident care.

Staff were seen to know each resident by name and chatted easily with people. We saw residents being gently encouraged by staff either to join in an activity, to eat their lunch or to have a beverage. We noted that staff sought consent from people when undertaking care, and all interactions were seen to be conducted in a calm and friendly manner.

Some of these residents did comment to us that they would like a little more 1:1 time as they were unable to join in the group activities

One family member said that they would like to see carers who spoke their spouse’s language.

What people told us:

What is the best thing about living at Neath House?

'Mum is well cared for and safe’ 

‘I get lots of visitors’

‘Going to listen to music in the conservatory'

Is there anything you would change?

'I’d like to go out sometimes, an outing to look forward to, just sometimes, I feel trapped.’

Our recommendations include:

• Consider ways of alleviating isolation for those residents that have difficulty leaving their rooms, perhaps more one to one time with care staff, or consider enlisting the help of volunteer groups such as befriending services to sit and talk with residents.