Innovative Start Ltd

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.

This is the first comprehensive assessment for this service. This key question has been rated 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.

The provider and staff treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity.

People told us staff were kind to them and respected their privacy and dignity. Comments included “They are all caring to me, I could not ask for more. I am happy with all my carers,” and “They are all nice and kind to me.” One person told us staff respected their gender identity. They commented, “They do seem caring and they treat me respectfully.”

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

The office staff we spoke with had a good understanding of people’s needs and their individual circumstances. There was provision for care planning systems to incorporate people’s wishes regarding how they wanted to be supported and to enable them to do as much for themselves as possible.

People’s independence was promoted, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and well-being.

A relative told us “Staff try to encourage independence. They let (family member) brush their own teeth and do the same with the shower.” Another relative told us “My wife has a shower and she is quite capable of making her own choices about if she wants a shower and what clothes to wear. We feel safe with our carers and they know what to do for us.” One person commented “Staff help with independence.”

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 provided positive feedback about how their needs were met. Comments included “The care people all seem to know what to do for us… they are first class” and “They treat me well, treat people the way you wish to be treated.” Another person told us “They listen to what I need. They’re approachable, accessible and efficient. Responses are appropriate.”

The provider did not always demonstrate they were promoting the well-being of their staff.

Since the last inspection, we received on-going feedback which indicated the provider did not always promote the well-being of their staff as best they could. However, at this inspection we found the provider was able to show how they supported staff. An example of this was external professionals attending staff meetings where staff could ask them questions.

There was mixed feedback about how staff well-being was supported. Comments included “Innovative has been supportive since day one. They really value us, they are fair in everything that they do.” Another member of staff said “We are in constant contact with management, through more formal ways such as regular meetings but we also have a WhatsApp group allowing me to quickly post any questions or issues that arise - this is then dealt with by management. We have multiple communication channels which is very useful.” Issues identified by staff which affected their well-being included rota changes and not having sufficient time off work to promote good work-life balance.