Haven Lodge care home wins approval of national care inspectors

Home news

Oct 18, 2016

A national care watchdog has given Haven Lodge care home in Clacton-on-Sea the seal of approval, with relatives and residents praising the home’s caring team members. 

The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) report gave Care UK’s Haven Lodge on Reckitts Close an overall ‘good’ rating, following an unannounced inspection.

To assess service standards at Haven Lodge, the CQC’s inspector spoke with team members, residents and their visiting relatives on the day of the inspection. They also reviewed the records and procedures already in place at the care home.

In addition to the overall rating, Haven Lodge also received ‘good’ ratings across all five areas reviewed during the inspection, including if the service was safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. 

The inspectors highlighted that the Care UK team talked about residents in a caring and respectful way. They knew the residents well and understood people’s specific needs and how they were met. One team member said: “I love my job and I love the people.” 

Residents said they were supported to live an active and fulfilling life at Haven Lodge. During the inspector’s visit, people were participating in various activities, including playing games, both in groups and one-to-one, with the activities coordinator. There were a range of items for people living with dementia, which are known to help stimulate the senses, including rummage boxes, building blocks and hand muffs. 

People spoken with also commented that the team was caring and treated residents with respect. One resident said: “The team treat me exceedingly well, all of them. I have no complaints. I am very happy here.” 

Dave Connelly, home manager at Haven Lodge, said: “We strive to create a welcoming home from home at Haven Lodge, and I’m so pleased our efforts have been recognised by the CQC’s inspectors. Everyone here works incredibly hard to support residents with compassionate, person-centred care, and to be rated ‘good’ shows just how committed the team is to making a positive difference to residents’ lives each and every day. 

“I’m extremely proud of our team and I would like to take say thank you for their hard work and dedication, which I know is also greatly appreciated by residents and their families.”

The report highlighted that the activities team spoke to the residents on a daily basis to find out what they wanted to do, as well as having a planned activities programme. They said: “Music is very important and if the radio is on in rooms I sing along and the residents join in.” 

Inspectors further noted that residents were supported to have a healthy and balanced diet, with residents praising the home for providing them with choices at mealtimes.  One resident commented: “The food is very good and if I want anything and if it is possible I get it, I had egg and bacon on toast this morning”, and another resident commented: “The food is excellent”.