Celebrations as Starr Hills rated ‘outstanding’

Residents, staff and volunteers at Starr Hills care home in Lytham St Anne’s are celebrating after being judged as ‘outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission.

The home, run by national older person’s charity MHA, is the first in the area to be given the top rating of ‘outstanding’ and joins an elite number of just 151 care homes nationally to be judged to be providing care at this level. Overall, CQC has inspected more than 14,400 care homes.

The inspectors visited Starr Hills, which provides care for 36 residents, in November 2016, spending a day putting the home under the spotlight by looking at how safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led it is.

In their report, the inspectors commented “We observed staff demonstrated an exceptionally caring, compassionate and kind attitude towards people who lived at the home. People told us staff were very respectful and spent quality time with people. There were many examples of how caring attitudes of staff had a very positive impact on people’s lives.”

They added that:

• there were many examples of how activities and staff ratios enabled residents to follow their hobbies
• health professionals felt the service provided outstanding care and were impressed by the knowledge of staff with their attention to end of life care
• staff received training and were knowledgeable about their roles and responsibilities.

Starr Hills manager Annette Williams said: “We are delighted to have the care we provide our residents has been rated as ‘outstanding’. At the heart of what we do is our residents, making sure they have a superb quality of life with plenty of activities and the care they deserve.”

Resident Peter Hale moved to the home a few months ago and has settled in very well. he said: “I settled in very quickly and have every confidence in the carers and I want for nothing.”

Peter’s daughter Joanna Carson added: “I can’t imagine anywhere better than Starr Hills. One of the biggest positives is the variety of activities at the home which all the residents have a say in which really gives them a great quality of life.”

MHA’s Regional Director Linda Zaidi said: “Annette and all the staff and volunteers at Starr Hills should be very proud of the inspection report and their rating of ‘outstanding’.