Arcot House Residential Home in Sidmouth, Devon, was rated outstanding for being safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), on 27 & 30 January 2020.
Arcot House Residential Home provides personal care and support for people aged 65 and over.
An empowering culture encouraged positive risk taking. People said they all felt safe because staff saw people as individuals and paid attention to small details. A relative said, "We are completely confident in their care. We know they are safe at Arcot."
Staff received extremely good support and training. Staff completed a comprehensive induction and did not work unsupervised until they were confident, they could do so. The service had more experienced staff mentors whose role was to help new staff in addition to the more formal supervision and support structures. New staff felt welcomed and supported and able to ask questions whenever they needed to. An ongoing programme of updates and refresher training was in place. Staff were knowledgeable about their roles and how to provide the correct support to meet people's needs.
The social and cultural diversity, values and beliefs of staff were identified, supported and celebrated. Staff felt empowered and confident to express their personal circumstances and lifestyles including their sexual identity and orientation, race, religion and language. This demonstrated an ethos of equality and respect amongst the whole staff team led by the staff wellbeing ambassador. This had enabled staff to adopt an approach to care that promoted individuality and embraced the differences in people they cared for and their families.
Staff engaged with people as they walked around and went about their day. A jigsaw table had a sign encouraging people to work together to complete the puzzle. We saw people pottering over to add pieces. One person said, "I find Arcot House very good in every way. I also like that we don't just sit around but there are so many things we can do to stimulate us."
All people were at the heart of the service. The organisation led by example to create a culture which was incredibly caring and supportive to people and staff. There was a long-established staff team. Several staff said they "loved" coming to work.
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