The Care Quality Commission gave Thornfieldin Seaton, Devon, an overall outstanding rating, following an unannounced inspection on 1 May 2019.
The Thornfieldcare home provides accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care, with dementia and physical disabilities, to adults over the age of 65.
The care home received outstanding ratings for the effective, caring, responsive and well-led categories, and a good rating for safety.
CQC inspectors highlighted that the service continued to provide outstanding effective care. Thornfield's environment was designed to use innovative ways to help people be as independent as possible. Design features, such as the colour of equipment and aids, in bathrooms continued to increase people's independence.
Staff were exceptionally skilled at engaging with people and, where appropriate, keeping exchanges light-hearted so people did not feel threatened if they were unsure of the answer.
There were a lot of laughter and people joked with staff and each other.
One resident said, "We're looked after excessively well. I laugh a lot; we have lots of laughs. We all laugh together.”
People's reactions to activities within the home helped form a foundation for staff to discuss what individual people found comforting at the end of their life.
For example, whether people were tactile and enjoyed the sensation of touch or preferred types of textures close to their skin. Other people responded well to sensory stimulation and had expressed a preference for having poetry read to them or listening to a certain type of music.
Staff provided CQC inspectors with examples of how they had supported people to relax and feel safe based on their personal knowledge of them including music, recognising people's spiritual needs, use of candles, essential oils, flowers, plants and tone of voice.
The registered manager constantly strived to create a high-quality service to the benefit of the people living at Thornfield.
For example, they recognised the impact on music to people's well-being, creating a choir made up of staff and people living at the home; two staff members were musical and there were plans for them to provide a backing group.