Adelfi Care Services

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 assessment we rated this key question Good. At this assessment the rating has remained Good. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

This service scored 80 (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 and their relatives described the staff as kind, considerate and empathic. Everyone we spoke with gave positive feedback about the support they received, commenting, “Nothing bad to say they are my saviours! [relative] considers them all friends, they are very chatty with her and they talk about things that she is interested in” and “In the morning they dress and undress him and they are always very careful and make sure he is comfortable.”

There was a positive culture of kindness and respect embedded within the service that translated into practice when caring for people. Staff told us, “Staff have clients best interests at heart and place them in the centre, they ensure the client is happy during visits and before leaving” and “The team are lovely, everyone really cares. We communicate regularly and management are really approachable. Adelfi go above and beyond for all of their clients…”

The provider placed value on ensuring people were comfortable during care visits and supported by familiar staff. Prior to care being provided staff would visit the person to meet them and attend shadow visits to become familiar with people’s individual care needs and preferences. The provider told us that this builds a trusting relationship and forms greater bonds. One relative stated, “We have met pretty much all of them and they are lovely. There is continuity of staff but the rota does vary. There are probably about six but she knows them all now.”

Outside of the care support, the provider continued to demonstrate genuine care for people using the service. This was shown through ensuring that people’s birthdays’ were celebrated with a card and a meaningful gift. During the festive season people were gifted with a food and drink hamper. Anyone not able to spend this time with their family was given a Christmas lunch regardless of if they received a support visit that day.

The provider treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

People received support that was planned with them and tailored to their specific needs. We saw that care was responsive in adapting to fit people’s individual circumstances. For example, we saw that following a fall, one person had their care visits increased whilst they were recovering, but the care plan was clear in stating that the goal was to support this person back to their normal routine once they had fully healed.

People’s individual needs and preferences were understood and reflected in their care, treatment and support. One relative told us, “When we met with [registered manager] we discussed a lot of personal preference. I think they are mindful of how they interact with her and they are not over-directive. They are very responsive to her and have built up a relationship with her. They definitely treat her as an individual and they do sit with her; it is not just a series of tasks that they complete.”

Staff spoke about the importance of recognising each person as an individual and adapting their care to promote the best outcome. Staff told us, “It’s important to understand clients’ needs and preferences, this can be done by having open conversations and asking the clients what they want. Individuals needs and preferences are all set out on their care plans.” and “I enjoy meeting different people and knowing I am making a difference. The structure of working with a small cluster of clients so I get to know them, and they get to know me. I believe this provides better quality of care.”

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

People were encouraged to be active agents in choices around their care and at the forefront of making decisions. We saw independence threaded throughout people’s care plans when recording how to support them. For example, one person had their visits recorded as being reduced as the person was improving and would like more of their independence back. Another person’s care plan recorded that they may like support to get ready for bed at their evening visit but staff were to follow the person’s expressed wishes and not assume this to be the case.

People and their relatives praised staff for trying to preserve people’s independence stating, “They encourage her to do some things herself. But with the [diagnosis] she has lost a lot of independence so they manage this well and do this for her” and “They will offer [relative] choices and if she says she doesn’t want a wash they won’t push it too much.”

Staff demonstrated respect for people’s independence and decision making when recording their daily visit notes. We saw that care notes documented when a person had needed extra support and the choices given to people. Staff had a good awareness of how to promote people’s independence and encourage them to retain these skills commenting, “Encourage people to have a go themselves where appropriate, I make sure that I have their consent for anything that I do for them, and ask them to let me know when they are ready. I encourage them to make their own choices and give them clear options, including ‘no’ if required. I ask them about their interests and preferences” and “Support and reassurance, offer help where needed, however do not take over and allow the client to lead as much as possible.”

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.

Staff had good knowledge of people’s needs and preferences. Staff knew people well and wanted good outcomes for them. They gave examples of when they had responded to people’s immediate needs, commenting, “I have reported to [registered manager] like a deterioration and rang and said somebody had cellulitis in leg and it was not as it was a few days before, so photographed this so manager could see and she advised to call out of hours which I did and person was seen” and “If a client was unable to communicate this information would be in their care plan and the ways in which to communicate and what to look out for. For example, our client gets tense, huffs and goes red in the face. These are cues in which we can tell he isn’t happy.”

People had care and support from staff who were perceptive to their needs could recognise changes in their presentation. One relative said, “There is a plan and a daily record of visits. The care plan is tailored to her needs. We have reviewed it over the phone. They will always flag things with me particularly is she is unwell. I can always request things they should do during their visit and I can request this via email.” Another person told us, “I like the fact that it [service] is small, it is responsive. I think I get to know the staff and manager well enough for it to feel personal. The feel is that they are in the role because they genuinely care and they do their best..”

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.

The provider recognised and met the wellbeing needs of staff. They took an active approach in ensuring staff were safe and cared for whilst at work and took time to show appreciation for their staff team. One of the management team told us, “We wouldn’t be where we are today without the team, we think the world of them. We never wanted to be those type of employers where you are just a number, we don’t make big decisions in the company without getting their feedback and putting it to them.” We saw that staff came together for a Summer BBQ and then a meal at Christmas. Staff birthdays were recognised and gifted.

Staff welfare and development were valued by the provider. Staff had been given the opportunity to be supported with further training and academic learning if they chose. The provider told us that they monitored the staff team who covered shifts to make sure they had adequate time off to rest and showed them their appreciation saying, “We don’t take it for granted.” Staff were given access to privately funded counselling should they wish to access this.

Staff spoke about feeling valued as a member of staff and having good support from the provider. Staff told us, “They are very responsive and appreciative. They are also very understanding. I feel well treated and that I can ask them anything”, “My workload is manageable and well planned. My hours are clear. I have the option to take on other shifts...” and “I feel valued at Adelfi, I have a good working relationship with management and feel supported in my role. I feel that my work and dedication is valued and appreciated.”

The provider had taken a proactive approach to changing the dynamic of staff meetings to boost attendance and engagement. They trialled moving them to being held on video call and undertook a review on their meeting process. Using an online method enabled more staff to attend who would either be working, caring for family or on downtime. There were good communication systems in place for staff which included an app that gave them a platform to speak up and get real time responses rather than waiting for a scheduled meeting. To reflect this, changes in the internal communications policy had been implemented to outline the reasons for the change to meetings to reflect staff needs.

We reviewed the minutes from staff meetings and saw these were demonstrative of a service that genuinely cared and took an interest in their team members. There were meetings that had been set up to address any concerns in the staff team and to support ways forward. In letters sent to staff, the time was always taken to show appreciation and thank and praise the work they did. One staff said, “They communicate this in messages posted amongst the staff chat, recognising staff strengths and showing recognition when something has been done well. Stating that they appreciate all the hard work staff put in and passing on customer reviews/feedback.”