An independent review of a South Shropshire care home has praised the “exceptionally caring and considerate staff team” following an unannounced inspection of its services.

Staff at Stone House in Union Street, Bishops Castle, treat people with the utmost respect, develop meaningful caring relationships with residents and deliver outstanding care, the newly published report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said.

The independent health and social care watchdogs gave the home an ‘outstanding’ rating for care and ranked it as ‘good’ in other categories of being safe, effective, responsive and well-led following the unscheduled inspection.

Edna Clarke a resident at Stone House with Keturah Bloor Manager
Edna Clarke, a resident at Stone House with Keturah Bloor, Manager

Stone House, which is run by Coverage Care, cares for up to 40 people, including those living with dementia. It recently completed an innovative transformation of its 15-bed dementia unit to provide a more stimulating environment for residents.

The inspection on May 29 involved interviews with 11 residents, three relatives and five members of staff. Care plans, medication records, staff training records and records relating to health and safety and the management of the home were also reviewed.

The official report said compliments for the outstanding care included one resident saying: “I can’t speak highly enough about the staff. They really are amazing, and they put themselves out for me” whilst one relative said staff were all “so kind and caring” and “you couldn’t get better than this.”

Chief Executive Chris Wall said: “To have the exceptionally positive care and support that the team at Stone House is delivering recognised with this outstanding rating is hugely gratifying.

“The inspector remarked on the many acts of genuine kindness witnessed, the relaxed, calm and happy environment, the kind and respectful staff and the way that staff go the extra mile to look after the residents. We are very proud of the dedicated team at Stone House and they thoroughly deserve this commendation.”

Manager Keturah Bloor was noted in the report for being “passionate about providing people with a high standard of care” with her ethos embraced and adopted by her colleagues.

She added: “We have worked hard to create a safe home-from-home environment that provides the highest possible level of person centred care so for this to be labelled outstanding is very rewarding. We are committed to continuing to provide the highest possible care for our residents and will strive to be recognised as an outstanding service across all categories in the future.”

Stone House is the latest service run by the not-for-profit provider to get a positive endorsement from the CQC. So far in 2019, inspections of four Coverage Care services –  New Fairholme in Oswestry, Lightmoor View and Chillcott Gardens in Telford and Briarfields in Shrewsbury – have resulted in ‘good’ ratings with a fifth, Woodcroft in Market Drayton, being classed as ‘outstanding’.