Madeline McKenna Court - January 2024

Summary

During our visit, residents at the Madeline McKenna seemed comfortable, happy and well looked after. We viewed good engagement between the manager, staff and residents. From our conversations with residents, and feedback from family members, it is clear the home generally provides a good level of care. 

There were however a number of comments received, from residents, family members, and staff, regarding a lack of activities provided by the home, and some regarding a lack of communication, which we felt needed addressing. 

We made the following recommendations:

1. Activities: Several residents and family members expressed a desire for more activities at the home. It is recommended that the home recruits an Activities Co-ordinator as soon as possible to help provide a wider range of activities for the residents. 
2. Dementia friendly: During any planned redecoration or renovations consider making dementia friendly changes to the environment. 
3. Communication and Information: We heard from some families that there was sometimes a lack of communication with them by the home. Effective communication is essential in building trust and keeping families informed.
4. We suggest providing regular updates, scheduling face-to-face meetings and encouraging family involvement in the home. We recommend the introduction of a ‘You said, we did’ board for all residents, and regular updates for relatives that would include any changes that have been made from comments, complaints etc. 
5. Involvement: Some residents felt that they have not had opportunity to be involved in Residents meetings. We suggest reviewing the way Residents’ meetings are promoted to encourage more involvement and look at the options to hold more than two meetings per year. 
6. Staffing: To ensure the current staff and manager can continue to offer person centred support to residents, we would encourage the recruitment of an admin support and laundry assistant to the home. 
7. Choice: Look to increase the range of diabetic food and snacks available. 

Service Provider Response 

Since the Healthwatch visit we now have admin support in place, which will also help in reinstating our monthly newsletter for families. We have also introduced more dementia friendly signage for the home.