Adults with acquired brain injuries, learning disabilities and complex needs

In addition to surveying the families of service users in our care on an annual basis, we also complete a questionnaire with the individuals themselves, which asks specific questions about different aspects of their lives within the care home. They are asked to respond using a satisfaction rating of 0 – 4 where 4 is the most satisfied. All of our service users have complex needs and some are unable to answer the questions, so staff either help them to answer the questions or observe their behaviours to ascertain their needs.

The results from each individual are combined to give average scores, which are shown below. There are up to five questions in each section, so the totals show an indication of satisfaction in each area.

However, as every person is different, and has different needs, our approach is always individualised, person-centred care.

The following gives you more information about the specific areas covered in the satisfaction survey.

Know how to complain
This question assesses how well the individual knows what to do if they have a complaint. The average overall score across the homes was 3.63 out of 4. It excludes the individuals who were unable to understand the question.

People you live with
This is very important to all of our service users, and satisfaction ratings can vary according to the type of care home as stable populations with long term residents tend to have a higher satisfaction rating. The Mews, which focuses on short-term intensive rehabilitation for adults with acquired brain injuries, naturally has more of a changing population. This can affect the dynamics of relationships between the residents. We work hard to ensure that any incoming service users will not upset the balance in any care home and we continually review our admissions policy to ensure that we receive sufficient information in advance of a full assessment of any potential new residents.

There is very much a family environment within our care homes, and many strong friendships develop between individuals. However, like a family, it doesn’t mean that everyone gets on well with everyone else all the time. Therefore it is important that we focus on relationships between individuals and use mediation and psychology to manage any disagreements. As a last resort, we can move individuals into another of our homes but this is rarely necessary.

Decision making
These questions covered how involved people feel in decisions relating to their care plan and risk assessments as well as making choices in their everyday lives.

Staffing
These questions ascertain how well service users know the support staff in their home and how they feel that they are treated by them: whether the staff are approachable, as well as whether they would like to be involved in the interview process. Many service users said that they would not want to be involved, which has reduced the average score.

Food and drink
As well as being asked about their choice of food and their cultural needs, individuals were also asked about how involved they wanted to be in menu planning and food preparation.

Activities
Many of these questions were qualitative: describing current activities undertaken or potential new ones, so a numerical score was not given. The activities that we provide are very much tailored to the individual and if something is requested but not achievable or affordable then we explore alternatives.

Environment
These questions simply asked how satisfied service users are with the communal areas of the home, the garden and their room.