Rickmansworth home wins seal of approval from national care watchdog

Company news

Oct 06, 2016

Care UK’s Chalfont Court care home in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire has been given the seal of approval by a national care watchdog.

At a visit by the Care Quality Commission in August, examining the home against a number of key areas such as safe, 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 Linda Taylor 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 that people using the service and their relatives told us that the staff were kind and caring towards them. One person said, "The staff are very good, they are kind and polite in general." Throughout the day, we observed a friendly working relationship between staff and the people using the service. Relatives we spoke with also confirmed to us how friendly and approachable staff were. One relative said, "The staff are absolutely brilliant and she's treated well." The home operated an 'open door' policy for visitors and we saw a steady flurry of relatives come and go throughout the day.

The inspectors also commented that staff interacted with people in a caring manner and they observed one member of staff giving people hugs when they greeted them. One person we spoke with said, "I'm very happy here, the staff are wonderful, marvellous, and I have a lot of fun with them too."

Linda said: “Everyone at Chalfont Court, including the kitchen, housekeeping 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.”