Allfor Care Alpha Care Recruitment West and Home Care Service Limited

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 service involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

At our last assessment we rated this key question requires improvement. At this assessment the rating has changed to good.

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

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People received support in a kind and caring manner. A person commented, “Yes, they treat me with dignity and respect.” Relatives told us they felt their family member was treated with dignity, respect and kindness. Their comments included, “The carers that [family member] has at the moment are very kind and treat them with respect and dignity” and “Very kind to me and [family member], very respectful.”

The registered manager stated that care workers completed training on privacy and dignity as part of the care certificate and as part of refresher training every 2 years. They also confirmed that care workers were reviewed through spot checks and supervision meetings to ensure they were maintaining people’s privacy, and were kind and caring when providing support. There were also staff identified as dignity champions. These were care workers who provided support and guidance on best practice for other care workers on how to provide care while maintaining the person’s dignity and respect.

People were treated as individuals when they received support. People’s preferred language and their cultural background was identified during the initial needs assessment and was including in the person’s care plan. People and relatives confirmed care workers provided their care that met their needs as an individual. One person said, “Yes, we are Catholic, and they are mindful of that.” The registered manager explained that using the information obtained during the initial needs assessment, whenever possible, the person was matched to a care worker who shared the same cultural and religious background. People and relatives also confirmed that their preference for the gender of the care worker was respected.

People were supported to maintain their independence whenever possible. Relatives confirmed that care workers supported their family member to do as much as possible when they were providing care. Relatives told us, “They do encourage [family member] to do things for themself. [Family member] brushes their teeth and other things”, “Yes they encourage [family member] to do for themself, [family member] does medicines.” People’s care plans identified what aspects of their daily life they were able to manage themselves and where they required care worker support. The registered manager told us as part of the initial needs assessment the level of support a person required was identified and the care plans included guidance for care workers on when the person should be encouraged or supported.

Staff responded to any changes in people’s support needs and took appropriate action. Relatives confirmed that they were visited by same care workers which meant they understood the person’s care needs. Care workers demonstrated they understood what to do if they felt there had been a change in a person’s care needs. Care workers told us, “I would record in my notes and inform the supervisor or manager of the concerns” and “Reporting the concerns to field supervisor and documented as well, follow the policies in place and ensure client safety at all times and seek guidance when required.”

The provider supported the care workers in their role. The registered manager told us staff could access stress management workshops and provide feedback on their experiences of working for the service through surveys. This feedback was used to identify improvements which were discussed during team meetings.

Care workers told us they felt the provider supported them in their role with comments including, “Yes, I feel supported in my job, with guidance and resources available when I need them”, and “Yes, Allfor Care always ensure that there is someone always to support me if and when I needed support.”