Silloth Residential Care Home,Cumbria

Welcome to Silloth Care Home - Rated as GOOD by the latest CQC Inspection. Read about us in Carehome.co.uk

Set beside peaceful woodland in the seaside town of Silloth, Cumbria. Close to the shops, Post Office, Bank and Seafront. Our accommodation comprises the Criffel Suite and the Solway Suite.- The home is surrounded by beautiful landscaped gardens, in an area of outstanding natural beauty. With a furnished patio area, attractive flowerbeds, a delightful pond and wheelchair accessible pathways. We provide a comfortable, safe, and secure environment that allows our residents as much independence as possible.

Good Companions - Who Are We?

We are a well established local provider of Residential and Day Care Services.We aim to provide a service which is flexible, personal and very much individual to the person in receipt of the service. Our aim is to enable people with varying needs to enjoy the highest standard of care and empower them to live as independently as possible within the home.

Why are we so different?

We pride ourselves in our knowledge of the local area and our knowledge about the services we provide. We provide a bespoke respite service with dedicated beds for people to take a holiday. We work extremely hard to develop a service which is specifically designed for you as an individual focusing entirely on you and what you want.

Our Values

We value each and every individual, who comes to live at the Good Companions. We welcome people from all walks of life, who enjoy the opportunity to share the richness of their experiences. We welcome ladies and gentlemen who wish to continue living as independently as possible by receiving care and support consistent with their capabilities and disabilities. All residents are assured that they will be treated with respect and dignity according to their individual needs and wishes. Anyone who enquires about becoming a resident will receive an information pack about the home and the services we offer. We provide single en-suite rooms, with furniture, bedding and digital television. Ladies and Gentlemen are welcome to bring their own furniture and/or bedding if they wish. Pets are also welcome – just let us know.

All of our accommodation complies with the Care Quality Commission’s Fundamental Standards.

We arrange outings and trips throughout the year. Our activities co-ordinator has a host of different entertainers who will provide a diverse range of activities within the home, one of our activity lists is enclosed with this information..

We recognise that to succeed in delivering a high quality care service depends on several factors, however we place an enhanced emphasis on the following key important aspects: Understanding the needs of our clients and their relatives We will carry out an assessment of care for each potential client who will be visited by our care manager.

Good communication at all stages

Care needs are variable and will change often, therefore we need to know what you think – your Care Manager will liaise with you and your family frequently – with your permission we will also liaise where appropriate with other members of your care team such as your GP, District and Specialist Nurses, CPN’s etc. We are totally dependent on the calibre and professionalism of our staff Our recruitment procedures are stringent and we have extremely high expectations of our Service Managers whose role ensures we always have an excellent focus on Staff Development, Education and Training. Where specialist skills are required we ensure staff receive appropriate training.

Day Care Supporting People to Live Well

We provide a Day Care service offering a range of person centred activities with support and advice from our experienced team. The aim of the Day Care service is to support people to maintain their independence and dignity at all times. There are many opportunities on offer within the day Care service, these include: activities, bathing service, escorted trips out, shopping, carer support, information and advice, advocacy, complimentary therapies and hairdressing. This list is not exhaustive so please ask if there is another service which you may require – we are here to help.

On admission to the home people who used the service completed an activity and leisure questionnaire. This provided staff with information about people's past occupations, hobbies and interests and highlighted any desires to develop new interests and skills. This demonstrated the service had an excellent understanding of people's social and cultural diversity. One person told us, "Have you ever wished to join a choir? I have! Not that I can sing very well, but I was told here, that doesn't matter anyone can join the choir, so I did and greatly enjoy our rehearsals, learning new songs and I think my singing has got better. This has made my wish come true." Another person said, "Before I came into The Good Companions I had always loved to feed the birds and was worried this wouldn't continue. But I am relieved and delighted, that not only I can continue to feed the birds the home also has a live bird watch that I can watch on the TV, they have a camera in a nesting box. I also have a bird feeding station which they put outside my bedroom window. This means a lot to me."

We observed the home had two very enthusiastic activity co-ordinators to support people to live fulfilled and enriched lives. During our inspection an activities co-ordinator asked if people wanted to play a game of bingo or take part in a quiz, some did, some declined, and she found other things to interest them such as word searches or crossword puzzles. In the afternoon four care staff were able to join people and take part in the activities on offer. A member of staff said, "Well everyone comes in here [sitting room] although some like to stay in their rooms, just because they like their own company but we go down regular and check if they want to join in."

There was a host of regular entertainers that visited the home. These included a choir, two ukulele orchestras, a violinist, a keyboard player, cheerleaders, magicians and the local primary school. There was a singer present while we inspected which people greatly enjoyed, we were told by one person, "It's the one with all the good music, you'll like him".

We saw that the home had strong links with the local community and took a leading role in local events. People visited the local library and heritage centre, enjoyed fish and chips at the local corner café, bar meals at the golf hotel and tea and cake at a popular fairy themed local café. Visits were arranged to a local village for ice cream and the local aquarium. The town of Silloth holds many local events which people attended including vintage rallies and carnivals. The local care homes had got together and arranged an older person's 'Care Home Olympics' on the towns green. This was now a local annual event. The residents of Good Companions were proud to take home the winning trophy for this event and are looking forward to defending their title next year. They had also won the local 'best scarecrow' competition. We saw that people frequently accessed the local community. One person was extremely pleased to find there was a walking group and said, "I have always enjoyed walking, so I was worried when I moved from my own home that I would miss going for walks. As it turned out they have a walking club, which I joined straight away and continue to enjoy going for walks"

Following a residents meeting new places to visit and activities had been identified such as nature walks, train rides, museums, garden centres, bowling, and animal attractions. A cinema afternoon had been suggested so the registered manager was in the middle of changing an underused lounge into a cinema room to accommodate this request.” We have our own minibus with disabled access that is used virtually every day. Trips are organised by our two activity coordinators. We find these trips are thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

We are totally dependent on the calibre and professionalism of our staff

Our recruitment procedures are stringent and we have extremely high expectations of our Service Managers whose role ensures we always have an excellent focus on Staff Development, Education and Training. Where specialist skills are required we ensure staff receive appropriate training.Our recruitment procedures are stringent and we have extremely high expectations of our Service Managers whose role ensures we always have an excellent focus on Staff Development, Education and Training. Where specialist skills are required we ensure staff receive appropriate training.

Services

Bespoke respite service

We have dedicated respite service for people to come and stay for short periods, we provide transport to and from your home. We are ideally situated close to all of Silloth’s facilities. So if you feel like a holiday call us to discuss our respite availability.

Meals on wheels

We provide a meals on wheels service to the people of Silloth, nutritional home cooked meals are provided Monday to Friday at a minimal cost. We can cater for special diets. Please contact us if you would like to discuss this service. Limited places available.

Bathing service

We provide a bathing service Monday to Friday for people who may experience difficulties at home.Minibus

Mini Bus

We have our own minibus with disabled access that is used virtually every day. Trips are organised by our two activity coordinators. We find these trips are thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

Home Visits

The chauffeur service will also be available for residents to visit their family and friends

Activities

The Good Companions believe that activities are central to excellent care. Through our range of activities, we offer person centered care with aspirational lifestyle choices for our Residents.