Sandpiper

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 75 (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 received support tailored to their individual needs by staff who knew them well.

Staff were observed to treat people with kindness, and respected people’s privacy when they chose to spend time alone in their bedrooms or communal bathrooms. Relatives told us, “Staff are kind and caring, the new manager is very good and very understanding and supportive” and “If [person] is having a bath in the bathroom, staff will knock on the door and discreetly check on them.”

A health and social care professional told us, “The residents always seem happy and well cared for.”

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.
Staff supported one person to regularly attend their chosen place of worship. Information was available to staff to ensure visits were successful.
People had care plans which recorded any support they required with expressing their sexuality. Where support needs had been identified care plans recorded people’s preferences and included how staff should ensure their wishes, privacy and dignity were respected.
People’s flats and bedrooms were individualised and contained personal possessions.
People had care plans which recorded the support they required to meet any identified spiritual, religious or cultural needs. However, some people’s care plans in these areas had not been completed.
 

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.
Staff supported people to have choice and control over their own routines and support. People were observed to make daily choices about what they wanted to do and when. A relative told us, “Yes they can make their own decisions, they decide when to go to bed, get up, what to wear.”

People and their relatives said people could choose how to spend their time. One person explained how staff supported them to make choices of what to do for the day, they said, “It depends how I feel first thing, if I want to go out, they make arrangements. Sometimes I don’t like to go.” A relative told us, “They enjoy a Sunday lie in and they support them with that.”

Staff supported people to maintain relationships and spend time with important people in their lives. Relatives told us they could visit people when they wanted to, and where they were unable to visit, staff would support the person to visit them. A relative told us, “[person] likes contact with their family and they try their best for this to happen.”

While we observed people’s independence and choice making was promoted their daily care records did not always record this. The manager had identified this as an area to work on within their service action plan.
 

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 responded to people quickly because they knew and understood people’s triggers and risk factors. People had positive behaviour support plans which directed staff on actions to take in different risk situations. Where people could not verbally tell you they were in distress, this information was documented in their records. We observed people receiving support from staff when requested.
 

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

The provider had an employee assistance scheme to support staff. The manager recognised staff and had introduced an employee of the month scheme. The service had recently responded to staff feedback by reorganising the allocation of one person’s support, so it was now provided by a different staff member every few hours. Staff were provided with time to take breaks and told us they were able to make suggestions and felt listened to.