Enter and View: Lakeview Lodge care home

The purpose of this Enter and View programme was to engage with residents, and their relatives or carers, to explore their overall experience of living in Lakeview Lodge care home. As well as building a picture of their general experience, we asked about experiences in relation to social isolation and physical activity.

Summary

Lakeview Lodge is registered to accommodate 66 residents and at the time of our visit there were 61 residents at the home with one resident having a stay in hospital. The home caters to persons aged 65 and over for general residential and dementia care. This is not a nursing home.

What we found

Residents’ family members felt that their loved ones were safe and cared for at the home and there is good communication between the home and family members on all aspects of care and daily life of loved ones. Although some people felt that the management team could be more visible.

The activity team are enthusiastic and try hard to get residents to join in and to be mobile. People are encouraged to walk to the day rooms, move a little in their seats, by the team who engage with everyone in the lounges. No-one is left out, people who wander in and out are always included as well.

"Staff consistency could be better, if they all did the same stuff the same way, and staff turnover is a bit high, but [resident] is happy here and, above all, safe.”

“Management are a bit out of touch, should spend some time with the residents.”

Our recommendations include:

• Consider ways of improving dementia friendly signage, particularly on the top and middle floor in relation to bathrooms and taps in particular.
• Investigate the source of the odour on the middle and top floors, as discussed during our final meeting this might result in replacing carpets with a more durable flooring.
• Promote the new One to One time spent with residents, it’s such a positive activity for all residents. Get all staff involved in it, if you have some male staff who can spend time talking football, cars, trains or cricket with the men it’s an extra dimension to their day. This is possibly where the management team could spend time talking with residents.

Examples of best practice

The new Activity Lead has introduced one to one time with residents, this is for all residents but is particularly important for those less mobile or those who have fewer visitors.

The response

As we have not received a formal response from Lakeview Lodge care home, we have escalated the matter to the Care Quality Commission (CQC).