Enter & View Report: Greville House

What we did

Greville House is a purpose built, fully-equipped nursing home set in gardens in Richmond, situated close to Richmond Park. It has accommodation for 59 residents.

Our volunteers and one member of staff visited the site on 17^th and 31^st October 2016. As for each Enter & View visit, Healthwatch Richmond used its statutory powers to visit wards, talk to patients, relatives and staff, and request information, so it can make recommendations for improvement.

Summary 

We found the nursing home is well run with good systems, and works to a high standard. Residents and relatives had generally positive comments about their experience. Their comments included that ‘everyone is very nice’ and ‘I am very fond of the staff’. Staff also reported strong enthusiasm for working there and that they derived satisfaction from helping people.

Reviews of food were mixed, however, and included that it was ‘repetitious’ or could be ‘more original’. To address this, each week the chef speaks with residents to discuss the variety and quality of food. On the activities front, residents and relatives were generally positive, saying that they "like the activities" and the coordinator, which were "very good", but others said there "needs to be more stimulation" and more variety.

There were some concerns about staff numbers on occasion, with residents’ comments including that"‘changeover times can be difficult in the evenings". Greville House has informed us that now, at handover, staff go from room to room to notify residents of shift changes and who is taking over.

The report had a number of important outcomes, including the steps to address staff handover times and the variety of food, as well as to involve residents in activities and assess each activity’s popularity. There are plans for the development of a new café and social space on the ground floor, and a sensory room. The care home will work to further encourage relatives’ participation in meetings.