Harrow care home celebrates praise from national inspectors

Home news

Dec 23, 2019

A Harrow care home hosted a special celebration to toast its ‘Good’ rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Residents and the team at Care UK’s Buchanan Court, on Sudbury Hill, were joined by the local community to enjoy a party to mark the occasion.

The CQC awarded Buchanan Court an overall ‘Good’ rating following an unannounced inspection. The new rating demonstrates the home’s dramatic improvements in key areas, including safety, effectiveness, responsiveness and leadership, which have now all been rated ‘Good’.

In the report, inspectors praised the person-centred ethos, where team members put an emphasis on promoting resident’s independence. For example, the team arranged for a resident to continue having fortnightly massages, a routine they’d established prior to moving to the home, and also purchased a bird feeder for another resident who enjoys birdwatching. In addition, the home has a comprehensive therapeutic activities programme, including arts and crafts.

Inspectors were impressed with Buchanan Court’s holistic approach to care, focusing on all aspects of the residents’ lives, including their cultural preferences and food likes and dislikes. A resident with a visual impairment was encouraged to sing as an alternative way of communicating, and those with religious observances are supported to attend their preferred places of worship on a regular basis. One resident said: “Everyone has helped me in their own special way”.

Inspectors noted that diversity was celebrated on a regular basis at the home. During the inspection, they witnessed a special ‘Africa Day’, featuring talks centred on African culture and history. These types of events are also attended by a number of residents and relatives and proved to be popular.

The report highlighted Buchanan Court’s thoughtful design, which has been specially adapted to older people living with dementia. The corridors and communal areas feature various mementos which reflected the era in which the residents have grown up, including a typewriter and old-fashioned cereal boxes, which encourage reminiscence and prompted conversations. There is also ‘memory boxes’ outside every bedroom, featuring personal items to help residents find their room more easily.

During the unannounced inspection, mealtimes were observed, and it was noted how relaxed the dining rooms were. Residents were able to choose what they wanted to eat, and where they wanted to eat it, and the food was adapted to their cultural needs.

Home manager at Buchanan Court, Ruth Halls, said: “We were thrilled to receive a ‘Good’ CQC rating, which really shows how far we’ve come since the previous inspections, so we knew we had to do something special to mark the occasion.

“We all had a brilliant time celebrating our achievement, and it was wonderful to see so many faces from the community raising a glass with us. To achieve a ‘Good’ rating shows just how committed the team is, and I’m extremely proud of each and every one of them. I would like to say thank you for their hard work and dedication, which I know is also greatly appreciated by residents and their families.”

To assess service standards at Buchanan Court, 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.

Buchanan Court has been designed to deliver the very best standards of care and to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives. The care home incorporates space for hobby and leisure activities and includes its own cinema, hair and beauty salon, and café, as well as providing full-time residential, nursing and specialist dementia care, and short-term respite.

To find out more about Buchanan Court, please call customer relations manager, Lorelei Shepherd, on 020 3504 7077, or email lorelei.shepherd@careuk.com

For more general information visit careuk.com/buchanan-court