Enter and View: West Abbey Care Home, Yeovil

The home was notified about the Enter & View visit two weeks prior to the visit.

Recommendations

1. That the home give some thought to providing a selection of toys or small play area for visiting children.
2. That the home look into the ‘Get Connected’ grant which exists to help those in social care access the Internet.
3. Staff recruitment and retention of staff is reviewed and given top priority by the management and Barchester Healthcare.
4. With regard to Improving the attendance of residents/visitors meeting, that the home consider some of the following ideas:
   Making the meeting part of a larger events such as a cheese and wine evening; Ensuring that residents have the opportunity to add to the agenda and receive the agenda well in advance; Inviting guest speakers to talk about a topic of interest such as finance/care home fees, hobbies and crafts, reminiscence or perhaps even a comedian. This would help to ensure that residents who may not otherwise attend might be motivated to give their input for different reasons; Ensuring that residents are able to feed into the agenda in advance.
5. That the manager liaises with residents about noise levels at night and that policies and procedures are reviewed to ensure that residents are accommodated within the different areas of the home appropriately according to their needs. Where appropriate the home should consider additional soundproofing is needed.
6. That the home consult with ‘Action on Hearing Loss’ and take advice on the installation of hearing loop systems.

This report was produced by the previous Healthwatch Somerset service provider, The Care Forum.