The Old Vicarage

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

People were treated with kindness, empathy and compassion. Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues with kindness and respect.

People were able to maintain relationships that were important to them. When asked if they were treated with dignity and respect, one person said, “Absolutely.”

Staff 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.

A relative said, “Over the last couple of weeks, I have been visiting [person] daily, and I have seen what staff are required to do and to cope with and I think they are all incredible.”

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 supported to make decisions about their day to day life. Staff included family members in making complex decisions where people could not do so themselves. One person said, “I can have a bath or a shower whenever I want one, they are so good here you know.”

The provider did not always listen to and understand people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff did not always respond to people’s needs in the moment or act to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. Relatives shared that staff did not always respond to people’s needs as quickly as they would like. A relative said, “It is terribly busy in the mornings, which is to be expected but more staff could be employed for this time. [Person] needs the commode and if they need to use it again shortly after, they get comments from the staff such as ‘Oh it’s you again buzzing’ or ‘You’ve only just used it! You’ll have to wait’ which is very disrespectful and upsetting for [person]. There is usually quite a wait for the commode even at 6am when [person] buzzes in the morning.” The management team confirmed this was a short term issue relating to the person's health needs at the time. However, other relatives commented that staff were not always responsive and that action was not always taken in a timely way when issues were raised with the management team.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff, and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care.

Managers undertook supervisions and team meetings to support staff. Feedback from staff was positive overall. A staff member said, “I get supervision - they tell me how I am doing and appraisal is for me to speak. I do find it helpful.”