Speedwell Court awarded for 'Outstanding' responsiveness

Abbeyfield Speedwell Court residential care home in Southampton’s West End, has been recognised as Outstanding when it comes to responsiveness towards its residents’ needs by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), following its recent inspection.

In its first inspection since the home opened in July 2019, the report found that Speedwell Court is exceptionally directed towards meeting the individual needs of its resident, with services delivered in a manner that ‘ensured flexibility, choice and continuity of care.’

The report praised the manner in which staff go ‘to exceptional lengths’ to make sure that the favourite pastimes of the residents from before they took up residency are taken into account in planning the care that they receive, with activities promoted that appeal to their interests, yielding ‘exceptional results.’

Examples reported include one resident, who had worked as an art teacher and silversmith, taking part in a charity fashion show held at the home; enabling residents with specific skills to lead activities in those areas, such as singing workshops and exercise classes; and ensuring that a keen football fan, who could no longer attend matches, was given souvenirs and memorabilia to enable to him to continue to enjoy televised games in a special way. Other activities in which residents can express and develop their hobbies include an arts club, gardening, bridge and maintaining garden furniture.

The CQC additionally found that the home is attentive to residents’ individual preferences when developing their care plans. Each plan includes the resident’s likes and dislikes, and ‘guidance for staff to help them deliver extremely personalised care and support.’ They ensure that each person’s mobility and communications abilities can be maximised to allow them to participate in life at Speedwell Court as much as they wish to, and that their cultural, spiritual and religious needs are fully catered for.

The report noted that Speedwell Court’s approach enables the residents to develop strong relationships with their fellow residents, staff and volunteer, to take full advantage of the excellent facilities available to them, and to ‘maintain their sense of identity and personality.’

Abbeyfield’s Chief Operating Officer, said, “The team at Speedwell Court have worked hard since opening to ensure that standards of care are continuously high, and this report from the CQC is just reward for their efforts. It is very rarely the case that a brand new service would get an Outstanding grading, so achieving this for our work in being responsive is especially pleasing. The whole team at Abbeyfield send their congratulations and thanks to the staff at Speedwell Court.”

A resident’s family member added:

Congratulations to all at Speedwell Court for the great achievement, which is well deserved. I have been impressed with the way that they have managed during the pandemic and kept the residents safe throughout. Thank you very much.

The CQC gave the home an overall rating of Good, with Good ratings in the remaining areas of Safe, Effective, Caring and Well-led. The full inspection report is available on the CQC website.

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