Outstanding Hat-Trick For Colten Care
A New Forest nursing home has become the third Colten Care home in less than a year to gain an official ‘Outstanding’ rating.
Inspectors from care industry regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC) awarded their highest grade to Woodpeckers in Brockenhurst, praising its ‘exceptionally personalised’ care and declaring its service especially ‘effective, responsive and well-led’.
The hat-trick follows Outstanding ratings for two of Colten’s other New Forest homes: Linden House in Lymington and Kingfishers in New Milton.
Mark Aitchison, Colten Care Chief Executive, said: “Having three homes rated Outstanding in successive inspections really does put us among the country’s very top providers registered for nursing care.
“With all 20 of our homes rated Outstanding or Good, we can justifiably lay claim to being in a different class from many other private sector operators.
“Fifteen per cent of our homes are Outstanding against an industry average of less than two per cent and, locally, three out of our five New Forest homes are Outstanding.”
“It’s particularly gratifying as we are achieving this independent recognition while investing in nursing at a time when others are turning away from it due to recruitment challenges and higher costs.
“We are committed to nursing and will continue on our journey of improvement.”
Mark joined Woodpeckers residents, relatives and staff at a party to celebrate the home’s success.
Presenting the Outstanding certificate, Mark said: “You should all be especially proud that Woodpeckers is the first Colten home to be rated Outstanding across three separate lines of enquiry: being effective, responsive and well-led.
“That’s a huge triumph involving a great many people.”
Among those attending the party was resident Elspeth Shepherd, who said: “This really is a lovely home and I’m very proud to live here.”
New Home Manager Katie Whiteside recently took over from Janie Pearman who at the time of the intensive, two-day inspection was the registered manager for both Woodpeckers and its sister home in Lymington, Belmore Lodge.
Katie said: “I pay tribute to Janie and the whole team for this fantastic achievement.
“We always promote best practice and an open and transparent culture for the benefit of our residents and their families, and we’re thrilled that the inspectors recognise this.”
Janie said: “I am really proud to have led the Woodpeckers team to this Outstanding rating.
“It reflects the consistently positive feedback we receive from residents, their families and health professionals.”
The 26-page Woodpeckers report praised Colten Care’s ‘one-team’ approach, stating: “Staff understand the needs of people and support them in an exceptionally personalised way.
“We saw that care was provided respectfully and sensitively, taking into account people’s different needs.
“The impact this had on people was outstanding and had resulted in them living an active life with choice evident throughout.”
