Peak Care Homecare

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 as 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 and their relatives told us the staff were compassionate, kind and treated them with dignity and respect. For example, a person’s relative told us, “All staff treat [Person] with a caring attitude. They are very kind and meet any needs they have during the care calls.”
Another person’s relative told us, “We’re happy with [Person’s] care, the carers are very, very, good with our [Relative].”

People told us the staff listened to them and communicated with them appropriately. Staff provided care in accordance with people’s preferences and requirements.

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.

Some people’s relatives told us they had recently noticed changes in the care staff who visited. For example, a person’s relative told us, “[Person] is happy with their carers and has good relationships with them. It can be difficult for [Person] when carers sometimes come who aren’t the regulars, because that relationship isn’t there. However, they aren’t doing anything wrong, [Person] just doesn’t know them as well yet.”

The provider told us they had reviewed their rotas to make them more stable and to ensure people were seen by regular staff as far as possible.

People’s individual needs were understood and detailed in their person-centred care plans. Staff demonstrated they understood the importance of treating people as individuals. Care plans included any relevant personal, communication, cultural, social or religious needs, which might be important for care staff to understand when providing care and support.

People’s care plans were available to staff to refer to for guidance on how to support individuals. A staff member told us, “All clients receive their allocated call times, unless there is the exception where a client chooses to cut it short, for whatever reason, and this is then documented in their care notes.”

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 experience real choice and control as far as they were able. People’s care needs, preferences, and aspirations were detailed in their individual care plans, and staff had access to those documents to use as a guide.
People were supported by staff to maintain as much independence, choice and control over their lives as possible.
People were supported to maintain relationships which were important to them. The provider was supportive of that and encouraged people to maintain those links.

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 were alert to people’s needs and took the time to observe, communicate and engage people in discussions about their immediate needs. Changes in people’s health status, and emotional states were also monitored. That information was used to find out how to respond in the most appropriate way to support people and ensure care was provided in accordance with their wishes.

Staff knew people well and could quickly recognise when people needed urgent help or when a person was starting to experience a decline in their wellbeing.

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

Shortly before this inspection several care staff and the registered manager had left the provider’s employment. This had created significant difficulties for the provider and meant staff rotas needed to be rapidly changed, and additional support obtained from agency care workers to ensure people continued to receive the care they needed. Feedback from most of the remaining staff team indicated the provider and the care staff had rallied together to ensure people continued to receive consistent care.
For example, a staff member told us, “Staff numbers at the current moment are very low. Management are aware and are dealing with this the best they can. Agency staff have been put into place to help with the situation. If staff numbers are low on a shift the senior and [Nominated Individual] work together to amend rota's accordingly to ensure care can be delivered to clients who require it. We support one another, as teamwork is important to ensure the client’s needs are met.”
Another staff member told us, “[The Nominated Individual] has been left in a rubbish situation, and has worked 7 days a week, most weeks, trying to keep everything running smoothly so the service users have not been affected. [The deputy manager] has gone above and beyond their job title and deserves a lot of credit for what they have done.”

Most staff told us they felt valued by the provider. A staff member told us, “[Nominated Individual] is very approachable, and I have always been made to feel at ease if I ever need to approach them with a problem or issue. They always take the time to listen to me and they deal with the issue in a respectable and professional manner.”