Hartley Park Care Home

The service is on three floors, with access to upper floors via stairs or a shaft lift. All bedrooms have en-suite facilities. There is an outside garden area.

People were at the heart of the service, and staff were motivated to deliver exceptional care by the provider's imbedded values of 'caring, compassion, courage, communication and confidence'. One member of staff told us, "We get so much enjoyment seeing the impact that we have on people's lives."

People were supported by staff who truly cared about them and went the extra mile to make sure they felt loved and were happy. Respect for privacy and dignity was at the heart of the service's culture and values. People and their representatives were regularly asked for their views about their care plans and the delivery of their service, and had their wishes respected. The service had continued to go the extra mile to find out what people had done in the past and evaluated whether it could accommodate activities in line with their previous employment, interests and hobbies. The service understood the needs of people and delivered social activities in a way that met their needs and prompted equality. The service had a key role in the community and was actively involved in building links. Staff made the special effort to ensure people were supported to avoid social isolation. Intergenerational care, the practice of bringing young and older people together, was seen as paramount importance.

Staff were exceptional at helping people to express their views, so they could understand people's wishes and preferences. Staff used a variety of tools to communicate with people according to their needs, some of which included the use of technology.

People were actively involved in decisions about the staffing at the service by being involved in the recruitment process and/or by meeting potential new staff as part of the interview process. One person told us in doing so, they felt "valued and involved".

There was a transparent and open culture that encouraged creative thinking in relation to people's safely. The service actively sought out new technology and other solutions to make sure people lived with as few

restrictions as possible, helping them to have an active and meaningful life.

People's medicines were managed safely and in a pro-active way, with the use of medicines used in supporting people living with dementia only ever used as last resort.

The provider kept up to date with new research and developments to make sure staff were trained to follow best practice. The provider took a holistic approach to assessing, planning and delivering people's care and support, with people's overall wellbeing considered an essential part of their care.

Staff were committed to working collaboratively and innovatively to deliver more joined up care and support to people. External professionals told us the service focused on providing person-centred care and support and achieved exceptional results.

People lived in a service which was clean and odour free and were empowered and encouraged to participate in the cleaning of the service, as they wanted to be.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff were overwhelmingly complimentary of the training and support they received. The provider looked at innovative ways to engage staff in training.

There was an exceptionally skilled and motivated registered manager in place, who role-modelled the ethos of the service. Staff were proud and motivated to work for the organisation.

The registered manager and provider were highly passionate about continuous development and improvement. There was a consistently high level of constructive engagement with staff and people to ensure outstanding practice was sustained overtime.