Avenues South East - 87 Westbrook Avenue

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.

We observed staff treated people with kindness and compassion at all times, and people had formed trusted and positive relationships with their staff team. One person was engaged in craft activities with a staff member as part of a monthly theme around spring flowers. The person asked which staff member was working this afternoon, and smiled broadly when they were told who this staff member would be. Another person was in their room with staff who were supporting them in watching television which was being signed in Makaton, and the staff member guided the inspector on how to communicate with this person. When people needed support, this was quickly attended to, and the culture at the service promoted people’s ability to live life on their own terms. Relatives and visiting professionals fed back their observations of the service treating people with kindness. One relative told us “Staff know how to support my relative if they become distressed. The support from the provider has been brilliant”

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.

People’s care was individualised to their wishes and preferences, and they had goals in place for their stay at Westbrook Avenue which staff worked with them collaboratively to help them achieve. These included around undertaking tasks with greater independence and taking part in meaningful activities which reflected their own interest. One person had worked on a goal to maintain the vegetable patch at the service and grow their own produce, which they had taken pride in doing and gave them a sense of achievement. This was also part of the sustainability plan for the service to reduce their environmental impact. People had control of their own days and had choice in the care they received. We observed a staff member asking if one person would like lunch, and they respected their choice when this person said they would like to eat later in the day.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

There was a strong focus on empowering people to be independent, and in control of their lives in a way that was personalised and achievable to them. The provider promoted active choice where people were assisted to develop skills and to have maximum choice at all times, with regular checks to ensure staff felt comfortable in using these techniques. One person was able to make themselves hot drinks, and took pride in making these for the management team and inspector during our visit. They were able to do so independently and staff empowered them to be in control of this activity, whilst monitoring them from afar to do so safely. Staff also used aids such as interactive daily planners to help people plan choices such as activities and food. Where people were not able to communicate verbally or less able to engage in tasks, staff would ensure they were still part of day to day tasks and would explain what they were doing.

People had control over who lived with them at the service, and decisions on any new placements were made in partnership with people. When people were considering moving to Westbrook Avenue, management arranged visits to ensure people felt comfortable living together and were able to do safely and collaboratively.

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.

There was clear guidance in place setting out how staff should respond if a person’s physical or emotional health was to deteriorate, or if people needed support in the moment. Staff were confident in describing this to us and we observed that any support needs were promptly met during our inspection. Both people had dedicated staff members working with them during the day who were knowledgeable about when a person may be showing signs of being unhappy or requiring additional support, including where people could not communicate verbally or would show pain or distress through other means.

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

Staff told us they felt supported and empowered in their roles to provide a high standard of care. They had access to regular supervisions and opportunities to discuss their own wellbeing, any challenges they needed support with or development needs. One staff member told us “Management are always there and allow you to learn from things. They have given me a lot of trust and work with me to empower me to make decisions, and get involved in tasks such as writing documentation”.

When staff joined the service, they were given the time and opportunity for learning and to understand the needs of the people they would be supporting. One staff member explained “It’s been a great process, really welcoming and supportive. I enjoy supporting the people I work. Induction training was really clear. I did lots of shadowing and felt like I could ask any questions”.