Frith House receives outstanding inspection rating

Staff from Frith House are celebrating following the results of their recent Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection.

The Burnham-on-Sea care home was given the highest rating of ‘Outstanding’ by the social care inspectorate who published their report on 20th September. This now puts Frith House in the 1.4% of adult social care providers nationally that are rated ‘Outstanding’ overall.

The inspection took place on 13th June and looked at whether the service was safe, effective and caring which were both rated as ‘Good’; with responsive and well-led, being rated as ‘Outstanding’.

Whilst carrying out the inspection, CQC spoke with residents at the care home: “People told us staff were always kind and respectful. During our conversations with people, all of the comments we received were positive. One person said, ‘I get amazing treatment, it is a hard job I do not know how the girls do it.’

Another person said, ‘Staff are all friendly and helpful.’ A third person said, ‘We have good carers here, my key worker is exceptional.’ Relatives of people were also happy with the care and support provided in the home. One relative said, ‘All care is as one would hope for, I feel comfortable with the care [the person] gets in this lovely environment.’ Another relative said, ‘Staff are genuinely kind and caring, there is no one I could not turn to for help, they are really lovely and speak to [the person] so nicely.’“

The inspection highlighted how staff and residents at the care home have embraced the use of technology in care:

“The ‘Our Yesterdays’ programme gives information about events that occurred on that day some years ago, it includes films, pictures and quizzes, and a printout was made available throughout the home for people to read. This tool for reminiscence had been trialled at the home. People had enjoyed the sessions and looked forward to them. One person told us how they looked forward to the discussions that arose from the film or newspaper cuttings.

The activities organiser explained how the sessions generated a lot of discussion and reminiscence and they always had plenty of people attending. The positive outcome for people within the home meant it was being rolled out to other homes within the organisation. The use of tablet computers meant this programme could be accessed across the home to enable people to take part in groups or on a one to one basis.

We observed a session of the yesterdays programme in the activities room. We observed people enjoying the daily session, which appeared to stimulate much discussion and laughter. One person told us how they enjoyed the sessions and attended regularly every day, they said, ‘Oh, it brings back so many memories so many happy times, I love it.’ Whilst the reminiscence session was being held in the activities room a quiz was also being held in one of the lounges.”

Speaking on the inspection report, Vicki Mitchell, Manager said: “We’re delighted to have been awarded ‘Outstanding’. The CQC report reflects just hard the team at Frith House work to make a difference to the lives of our residents. I would like to personally thank the team for their passion, commitment and dedication.”

Frith House is located on Steart Drive in Burnham-on-Sea. The seaside care home has a specialist dementia suite, which supports people living with dementia to live in a safe, comfortable and welcoming environment. The home has recently built strong links with Footprints nursery and are enjoying taking part in a project to develop inter-generational friendships. The project is already proving to be a huge success for everyone involved.

Photograph: Manager, Vicki Mitchell with Frith House resident, Joan Pruett.

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