Windsor care home celebrates praise from national inspectors

Home news

Feb 27, 2020

A Windsor 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 Mountbatten Grange, on Helston Lane, were joined by the local community to enjoy a party to mark the occasion.

The CQC awarded Mountbatten Grange an overall ‘Good’ rating following an unannounced inspection, the first since the home opened just over a year ago. The home was rated ‘Good’ in all five categories, including ‘safe’, ‘effective’, ‘caring’, ‘responsive’ and ‘well-led’. 

In the report, inspectors praised the home’s person-centred ethos, from tailored care plans, featuring needs but also likes, to the residents’ champions programme, giving every resident the opportunity to have their say on an array of topics, including food menus and activities.

The report highlighted Mountbatten Grange’s range of activities, tailored to individuals and selected in partnership with the residents. A team member commented: “Residents drive the programme here”. For example, a resident who had a lifelong wish to meet penguins saw it granted by the home team when they invited two hand-reared Humboldt penguins into the home as part of Care UK’s Wishing Tree initiative. Other regular activities include trips to the community, as well as entertainers, including an Elvis tribute act who visited the home to mark a resident’s birthday.

Inspectors were impressed with Mountbatten Grange’s holistic approach to care, focusing on all aspects of the residents’ lives, including their cultural preferences and food likes and dislikes. Residents praised the new chef, who was described as ‘knowledgeable about people’s dietary needs and preferences’, and constantly sought feedback from the residents to improve the food offering.

Finally, inspectors praised Debbie Winwood, the home manager, for her passionate approach to care and the positive culture she had created within the home. A relative said: “[She] is the really good one here; […] she really does get on with things in a positive way and that is a great help to me”.

The report also highlighted the level of skills possessed by every team member, and the emphasis put on training by the management team. One team member commented: “Training is really good […]. My manager will observe particular tasks to make sure I understand.” A resident added: “The carers are absolutely first class here.”

Home manager at Mountbatten Grange, Debbie Winwood, said: “We were thrilled to receive a ‘Good’ CQC rating, which really demonstrates how well we’ve settled within the Windsor community, 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 Mountbatten Grange, the CQC’s inspectors 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.

Mountbatten Grange has been designed to deliver the very best standards of care and to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives. The home provides full-time residential, nursing and dementia care, as well as short-term respite and palliative care. 

To find out more about Mountbatten Grange, call 0333 220 4064 or email customer relations manager, Leahanne Wilkinson, at leahanne.wilkinson@careuk.com

For more general information, please visit careuk.com/mountbatten-grange