Enter and View: Waterhall 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 Waterhall 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

Waterhall is a purpose-built care home which first opened in 2008 set in a community location in Water Eaton, Bletchley, close to local amenities and public transport. 

What we found

"Staff we polite and friendly with residents, calling residents by name, staff were busy at all times. Staff are well liked by both residents and family, but they have no time to chat. A few family members commented that their loved ones were concerned about ‘rough and speed and lack of conversation during personal care', particularly with the male staff, but that at other times they were fine.

We observed several physically impaired residents that were taken to the activities but spoke to families and they felt their loved ones spent far too much time in bed as hoists we not available or insufficient staff were available to operate them, not giving them the choice of when they got up or out of bed, showered or went to day rooms or how long they spent in chairs. Most families and residents felt that showers – rarely baths are offered – happened to suit staff timing not residents and hair washing is not a daily or weekly event, even a reluctant occurrence."

Our recommendations include:

• Explore the possibility of an additional activity space: Activities are provided and cater well for those with dementia, which is the majority of the residents, but for the few with capacity, a space for conversation and an activity or coffee morning/afternoon would be appreciated. 
• Look at personal hygiene details for residents, include regular hair washing as part of the daily/weekly routine. Even though wet rooms are part of each bedroom, offer a bath as an option to residents, this may not be a daily offer but for some residents this is a far more comfortable experience. 
• Consider ways of investing more time to make this a daily event - Mindful Moments – this is a particularly positive tool, and appreciated by residents, invest in the local community, and try to find volunteers who can join in the ethos of this program. 
• Invest in staff training to communicate the feeling of residents surrounding ‘rough or brisk’ treatment during personal care from the male care staff, the staff are otherwise well liked, it was felt they did not know their own strength.