Highfield

On this page

• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

Caring – this means we looked for evidence that the provider involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. At our last inspection we rated this key question good. At this inspection the rating has changed to outstanding.

This meant people were always supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

This service scored 90 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The provider always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

People told us they liked the staff and described them as kind and caring towards them. Comments to us included, “Staff are kind and they are alright,” and, “All the staff we have are good, none are better than the other, they are all very kind.”

Relatives consistently gave positive feedback about the staff team and felt their loved ones were well cared for. One relative told us, “The staff are excellent, they understand [name] and that they get stressed, they calm them, that is what is so good.”

Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity. Some people chose to have a key to their bedroom, and this enabled them to independently promote their own privacy and dignity. Staff gave examples of how they promoted privacy and dignity by knocking on people’s bedroom doors before entering and when supporting people with personal care, ensuring this was done in a respectful way.

Staff worked in a professional way, whilst treating people living at the home as equals. When talking about other healthcare professionals, such as GPs and community nurses, staff were respectful. The assistant manager described the acute liaison nurse as enhancing people’s care provision, which demonstrated a respect for other healthcare professionals’ input to people’s support.

The provider and staff team were committed to treating people as individuals, ensuring support was person-centred in meeting people’s aspirations. They were exceptional in how they made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. The provider took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

One person had an interest in promoting the opportunities Polesworth Group Homes offered to local students in work experience within the supported living homes and other services operated by the provider. This person confirmed they had enjoyed attending careers fayres and student meetings with the support of a staff member. They had hosted a student placement in their home and had been involved in the induction process for the student placement.

Another person had strong personal reasons for wanting to go on a particular holiday. Staff had recognised this and the person told us, “It was very important for me to go to Portugal last year.”

A further person had expressed their wishes to the registered manager to have some hours alone in their supported living home. A discussion took place and this person demonstrated they could use a phone in an emergency and understood the risks of opening the door to unknown callers. Following the risk assessment, this person now had their ‘own quiet time’ which they enjoyed and met their individual needs.

Some people had interests in arts and craftwork, and the management team had enabled 4 people to take part in a ‘Threads of Remembrance’ project commissioned by a national place of remembrance. This involved people working with a mosaic artist, at the location, with the aim of creating a piece of artwork to be displayed for public viewing.

Ten people had individual passions for music, dance and drama. They spoke highly about ‘Move It’, a community movement project including music, dance and drama with an objective of developing skills and confidence and with an end of year performance (December 2025). Some people enjoyed being on stage and others enjoyed supporting ‘behind the scenes’ for the production, which was attended by friends and relatives. Staff supported people to engage with the project where people’s individual strengths and abilities were recognised and celebrated. One staff member told us, “People really look forward to ‘Move It,’ they get a lot from that.”

Relatives positively commented about specific staff and how well they knew their loved one as an individual. One relative told us, “The carers are excellent, it’s all outstanding. Staff keep me informed and [name] goes out doing activities, it’s like a family. The manager is very amenable. We are so grateful, we count our blessings every day.”

People’s individual choices and protected characteristics were respected. If people wished to be supported with personal care by a specific gender of staff, this was in place. One person told us, “We only have ladies supporting us here.”

The provider was exceptional at promoting people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

Two people had recently celebrated gaining their certificate in ‘Financial Literacy’. The provider had enabled both people to access a course provided by a nationally recognised learning disability charity. The course had enabled both people to develop skills in managing money with confidence and would now facilitate them to have greater involvement with handlingtheir own money.

One person showed us a framed photo of them with their boyfriend, who lived in another Polesworth Group Homes’ service. Staff were respectful of this and facilitated social meetings, recognising some people with a learning disability chose to develop close friendships and relationships with others.

People were supported and given opportunities to make meaningful choices about how to spend their time. People gave us positive feedback on the activities and hobbies they were supported to do. Some people were keen football team supporters and gave examples of how staff had supported their involvement in this.

Some people told us how important it was for them to be able to demonstrate independence in their daily lives. One person told us, “I make my bed the best I can, and staff just straighten it out a bit for me.” Another person told us, “I help with preparing meals, like cutting vegetables, I like doing that.”

Staff spoken with demonstrated ways they promoted people’s independence to boost self-esteem and enhance people’s overall quality of life. One staff member told us, “[People’s names] help around their home. They help with washing up and putting the recycling out. I encourage [people’s names] to choose the filling and make their sandwiches ready for the day centre. It helps with their independence, keeping their skills and making new skills.”

The provider listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff responded to people’s needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress.

People told us, and we saw during our visit to people in their own homes, that staff were available and attentive to people’s needs.

Staff responded to people’s changing needs. The assistant manager showed us pictorial images had been placed in 1 person’s bedroom to help them orientate to, for example, their ensuite bathroom. This was in response to the person now living with dementia and finding it more difficult to remember where things were located.

One staff member told us, “[Name] experienced an unexplained weight gain, so we have supported them with GP appointments. The GP said it may be linked to the menopause and has prescribed hormone patches, which the person wishes to try. We are closely monitoring and feeding back to the GP.”

The provider always cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and was exceptional at supporting and enabling staff to always deliver person-centred care.

We received very positive feedback from staff about working for Polesworth Group Homes. Staff were exceptionally complimentary about the management team and the support they felt was given to them. One staff member shared their experience of being supported back to work after a period of absence and said, “I feel supported and say that with confidence.” Another staff member told us, “Polesworth are an excellent company to work for, they really are. I couldn’t ask for better. Anything you need you get and you can talk about anything, raise anything and you know you will be listened to.”

Staff told us their opinions were valued and their feedback acted upon. One staff member told us, “I had worked at 1 house for a long time and a new person moved in and they really didn’t like me. I tried to build a relationship but that didn’t work. The person clearly wasn’t happy with me and I wasn’t happy. I approached the manager and we talked it through. We tried various different approaches, but nothing worked. We agreed it was best for the person and for me if I moved to another house. I was supported and listened to.”

Other staff gave further examples of being supported both with work issues and personal issues. The provider recognised staff’s commitment to their work and offered a long-service loyalty scheme. Three staff members working in the supported living service had benefitted from the provider’s recognition award scheme for ‘going the extra mile’ in covering shifts to ensure people received support from a consistent staff team.

Staff received one-to-one supervision, access to training through online sessions and some face-to-face taught sessions. Team meetings took place and staff told us they felt they could contribute to these.

The provider had information and support systems in place for staff wellbeing. For example, information was available to staff on mental health support access. Staff could access nationally recognised mental health support and wellness groups.