National care inspectors praise Bracknell care home

Home news

Jun 09, 2021

A national care watchdog has given a Bracknell care home its seal of approval, with relatives and residents praising the caring and attentive team members.

The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) report gave Care UK’s Bickerton House, on Warfield Road, an overall ‘Good’ rating, following an unannounced inspection.

The care home was rated ‘Good’ in all five categories, which include safety, effectiveness, care, responsiveness and being well led.

The report highlighted that at the heart of the success of Bickerton House is Home Manager, Erika Smith. Erika has a strong sense of leadership and has been determinedly developing the skills of all team members since the moment the home opened. She appointed champions in relation to dementia, and moving and handling, and implements a monthly GEM (Going the Extra Mile) Certificate for team members who have been nominated by residents, relatives or colleagues and the recipient also receives a gift.

Erika implements training and assessments on an ongoing basis along with one-to-one supervision and team member appraisals. One team member said: “The training is better here because it is based on the residents [which live] here”. The team members take an obvious sense of pride in every aspect of their care giving.

The inspectors noted the high level of training and competency across all departments and were impressed with the fact that team members in all roles, including administrative and maintenance, could identify changes in resident’s needs and could calm their anxieties and seek the correct support.

The inspectors were also impressed with the positive, cheerful, friendly atmosphere in the home – a sentiment echoed consistently by visitors. One relative said, “Everyone here has a smile on their face and are always willing to help” and a resident commented, “It’s lovely here and all the nurses and carers treat me like their own mum. They are so happy to help me and never make me feel anything is too much trouble.”

The report also noted that team members spoke with pride and passion about the residents living in the home. For example, one team member said, "There's one lady whose face lights up when she's telling me about her day. It makes me feel so happy and proud, especially when she asks for me."

Throughout the pandemic, the team effectively supported people to maintain relationships that matter to them, such as family, community and other social links. One relative told us, "The communication has been outstanding throughout the pandemic. We [the family] have been kept up to date every step of the way about Covid measures, testing and vaccination."

Erika Smith, Home Manager at Bickerton House, said: “I am extremely proud of what we have achieved here at Bickerton House. We are a new team in a new facility and to have achieved this rating from the CQC is a testament to the hard work and dedication of every single team member.

“We are committed to ensuring all the residents have their every need cared for in a dignified, professional and loving manner. We pride ourselves on communicating with relatives and medical colleagues to ensure we know everything there is to know to enable us to do this efficiently.”

Bickerton House is a new, purpose-built, facility designed to meet the needs of older people and those living with dementia. The inspectors were impressed with all the bright spaces and natural light which could help orientate residents to the time of day and time of year. There is also an abundance of outside space – areas for activities, quiet areas to see visitors and private areas for self-reflection, along with a garden complete with scented flowers which is accessible for residents who require mobility support.

To assess service standards at Bickerton House, the CQC 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.

Bickerton House has been designed to encourage residents to live active and fulfilling lives, while remaining as independent as possible in a safe environment. The state-of-the-art care home, which opened last year, provides full-time residential, nursing and specialist dementia care, and features a cinema, hair salon and activities room.

For more information about Bickerton House, please call Customer Relations Manager, Jo Anderson, at jo.anderson@careuk.com or call on 01344 989943.

For more general information, please visit: careuk.com/bickerton-house