A south west London care home has been rated 'outstanding' overall by the Care Quality Commission.
Nightingale House, Wandsworth Common, was rated 'outstanding' for being caring, responsive and well-led. It was rated 'good' for being safe and effective following the inspection in May 2018.
The home can accommodate up to 215 older Jewish people. At the time of CQC’s inspection 180 older people resided at the care home, the majority were living with dementia.
The service has an open and inclusive culture. People and their visiting relatives spoke positively about the service's management and leadership style. People typically described the culture in the home as being open, transparent and mutually supportive.
People were extremely positive about the staff who worked at the home and typically described them as "compassionate" and "kind" making comments such as "They are so kind, it's really important that they care and are empathetic … It makes such a difference" and "I really love the staff. They treat my [family member] and everyone else who lives here so well."
The service has built up strong links with the wider community. Since its last inspection, Nightingale House was the first care home in the UK to open an on-site nursery to bring children, their parents and older people together daily to participate in shared social activities, such as baking, storytelling and singing.
CQC received extremely positive comments from people, their relatives and community professionals about this innovative inter-generational project. Entertainers, drama groups and musicians visited the home several times a week to perform.
Staff promoted people's independence in a variety of ways. For example, during lunch people who were unable to use traditional cups and plates, had their needs assessed and where appropriate, had been given a plate-guard or special crockery which enabled them to drink and eat with minimal assistance.
When people were nearing the end of their life, they continued to receive compassionate and supportive care, further evidence through achieving the Gold Standards Framework (GSF) with 'Beacon' status. The Gold Standards Framework is a professional accreditation awarded to care homes in recognition of their high-quality end of life care practices. Beacon status is awarded to services who maintain best end of life care practice across the GSF standards.
The service was extremely well-managed with leaders having a high level of appropriate skills, knowledge and experience with clear hierarchy and well-defined responsibilities and lines of accountability. The CEO was supported by a competent senior management team which comprised of six directors/heads of care that included care, human resources, facilities, finances, operations and marketing. The director of care was also the registered manager who was supported by the home's five unit managers.
Debbie Ivanova, CQC’s deputy chief inspector of adult social care, says: “I am always pleased to hear about outstanding care and Nightingale House is clearly a great place to live with caring management and motivated staff. I was particularly excited to hear about the intergenerational work and the benefits this has on the people living in the home.”
