Archived: OSJCT Henlow Court

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 –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.

The service treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion. People told us staff were kind. One person told us ‘The staff are very kind; we have a laugh. Nice kind people.’ And another person told us ‘”They [carers] know I like my garden and gardening, made me a window box and planted it.”

During the assessment we did observe missed opportunities for staff to interact with people, some staff were focussed on completing a task rather than interacting with the person. One person told us “‘They [carers] have very little spare time to sit and talk.” When staff did engage with people it was meaningful, people were treated with kindness and compassion. “They do know about me, we talk or they ask me about things. They seem interested in me.”

The service treated people as individuals and took account of their backgrounds, culture and protected characteristics. The service arranged communion for practising Christians and a vicar held a service every other week. People told us they were treated as individuals and their beliefs were respected. One person told us “Very important to me [spiritual needs] I’ve been religious all my life. They have services here and take communion.” Another said, “I can be independent, make choices, where I go and choices at mealtime.”

The service 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 culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics. People’s religion was clearly documented throughout their care plans.Most care plan’s reflected people’s like and dislikes and kitchen staff knew what people liked to eat and drink. Most rooms were evident of personal effects and some reflected people's interest well, with family photographs and ornaments.

Staff responded to people’s needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. The service listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. We observed staff responding to people’s needs in the moment for example at lunch time. We observed staff enabling people who needed specialist seating equipment to support them to join their friends at mealtimes. One person told us “ They always ask [at the time] what I want to eat and what I want to wear”.

Some people and their relatives felt staff responded to their request for care promptly but certain times of the day it was more busy. One relative told us “‘I’ve never seen it understaffed and care alarms are not on for a long time.’ And a person told us “If I ring my bell somebody comes more or less straight way, get the odd time when they are really busy, usually no problems.” Another person told us “The carers do get to me reasonably quickly, very good responding, never left in wet clothes. Could do with more staff at busy times, like lunchtime, they are so busy.”

The provider was working to improve and promote staff wellbeing. Staff recognised the provider was trying to improve experiences for people and staff. However, staff did not always feel part of the journey and felt their concerns were not always listened to. One staff member we spoke with said “Feel valued sometimes, we don't get enough gratitude. The respect is not always there. Some days are better than others. Sometimes we are listened to, sometimes we raise issues to the nurses which don't get picked up on nor investigated.” And another member of staff said “Has it's moments. Mixed bag, does vary don’t know if I feel valued working here.”