Maidenhead care home wins seal of approval from national care watchdog

Home news

Jul 06, 2016

Care UK’s Clara Court care home in Maidenhead, Berkshire has been given the seal of approval by a national care watchdog.

At a visit by the Care Quality Commission in April, examining the home against a number of key areas such as safe, effective, caring, responsive, well-led, inspectors were happy to award the home an overall good rating.

During their visit to the home, which provides specialist care for older people, some of whom have dementia, the inspectors talked informally to the team and examined the home’s administrative systems and processes.

Home Manager Debbie Winwood said: “I am delighted that we reached the high standard set out by the Government and CQC and I was even more delighted that the inspectors highlighted how the team works to respect people's dignity and independence.”

The inspectors noted comments from people and relatives including "Yes they do look after me very well. Very happy here", "Very good care - can't grumble about anything", "Oh yes! They look after us so well. Get what you need. Lovely caring people", "Carers brilliant - care brilliant, couldn't be better", "Wonderful care by kind people", "Staff very loving, sense of humour, good rapport", "100% sure. Over the moon about this place. So impressed with every member of staff" and "Care is beyond expectations."

The inspectors also commented that a dignity champion was in place and was working to ensure that people's dignity was a high priority and embedded in the care at Clara Court. They saw that peoples' privacy and dignity was respected because staff knocked on people's doors before entering and closed them before delivering care. Staff got down to people's eye level when they conversed with them and used gentle reassuring touch. They also saw good examples of person-centred care with staff taking time to talk to people to find out what they wanted before offering assistance.

Debbie said: “Everyone at Clara Court, including the domestic, kitchen and maintenance teams, strives to ensure that we create genuinely individual care for each resident.

“To do that, we ensure we get to know each person, their history and their interests, so that we can tailor each care plan to maintain their independence, life skills and sense of wellbeing.”