A Havering care home has been rated 'outstanding' by the Care Quality Commission.
Ebury Court Residential Care Home Limited, has been rated 'outstanding' for being effective, responsive and well led. It was rated 'good' for being safe and caring, following an inspection in September 2018. It was also rated 'outstanding' at our last inspection in 2015.
The home provides care for up to 39 people, many of whom have dementia. People, relatives and staff all thought the service was extremely well-led and the management team cared deeply about people.
One person told CQC inspectors “staff are excellent”. Inspectors witnessed exceptionally positive relationships between staff and the people they cared for, with a range of activities designed specifically to meet people’s individual needs. Care plans were very detailed and gave staff an excellent understanding of people's history and background. This helped the service to tailor activity programmes for people, such as furnishing the service's activity rooms with items that comforted people.
The service was committed to providing people with a nutritious and appetising diet. People were extremely complimentary about the food, stating it was "great" and CQC observed exquisite meal presentation for those with dietary requirements. Care plans showed that people’s nutrition was monitored and that allergies and preferences were recorded.
A visiting health and social care professional spoke highly of the service's work with advanced dementia and people at the end of their lives. They said, "I think it's brilliant – I go into lots of places and the [dementia] care here is amazing."
Staff felt supported, were happy working at the home. One said: “People feel part of something worthwhile”. Another said: “I have worked here for several years, I would not want to work anywhere else.”
The registered manager of the home said: “We involve the service users, they’re number one” when discussing improvements to the service.
People also said they were involved with the service in a variety of different ways; through resident meetings, being involved in special events such as the summer fete, creating the bi-annual newsletter, participating in the recruitment of staff, taking part in training events and when special visitors attended.
The service won the 'Best employer of under 50 staff' award at the Skills for Care Accolades 2018 for their support, training and development of staff.
Staff received regular safeguarding training, knew how to identify abuse and were aware of their responsibilities about reporting abuse. One staff member said: "Safety is paramount. Anything you think is abusive, report it."
Debbie Ivanova, deputy chief inspector, Adult Social Care, says: “I am very impressed with the standard of care at Ebury Court Residential Care Home. It is clear that the service is focused around the people living there and how best to meet their needs while making sure people retain as much control as possible. This creates a great place to work with motivated and happy staff."
