Pathways Health Care 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

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 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 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. Throughout the assessment day we observed staff socialising with people and supporting them in their chosen way. This created a warm and welcoming environment in the home. People were observed to be at ease with staff and were supported with dignity and compassion when they requested support with things such as personal care. People we engaged with communicated to us they were happy and liked the staff supporting them.

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. Care plans and tools used to develop peoples care plans were transferrable and people were able to take this information with them to other services and appointments to support them with personalised care outside of the home environment. Where people experienced delays in accessing support such as occupational therapy or physiotherapy the provider had funded private medical professionals to assess and support people. This enabled people to receive treatment, support, guidance and at times, referrals for further support such as for bespoke mobility equipment, without delay. This meant people were supported to access care and support that met their needs in a person-centred way.

The provider did not always promote people’s independence, so people did not always know their rights and have choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. Although the staff and provider were passionate about supporting people to be independent and have as much choice and control as possible, recently recruitment and retention issues had impacted some people’s choices. For example, people had had activities of their choosing cancelled due to the lack of drivers available to support people accessing the community and facilities. Relatives we spoke with gave examples of visits and activities with their loved one living at Pathways Health Care Limited being cancelled on the day which had caused, distress and frustration. However, all stated the provider had worked to ensure an alternative time was arranged.

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. Some people were living with a complex health and mental health conditions that hindered them recognising and communicating when their health was deteriorating. We saw records showing staff identifying and raising these concerns to ensure people received the help they needed. For example, staff recorded and monitored periods of distress or frustration and had clear guidance how as to people wished to be supported. This included distraction and de-escalation techniques that were engaging and meaningful to be used before they reached a crisis point. Staff were knowledgeable about people’s triggers and their preferred methods for support with de-escalation which kept people safe.

We received mixed feedback from staff about the level of support they received from the management team. Some staff told us they felt management could be more visible and supportive around the home. One person said, “I would have hoped to see the managers on the floor with us more and not just in their offices. Especially with all the agency staff we are using it would be nice to have their support a bit more.” Another staff member said, “I know I could go to the office and speak to the manager if I had an issue, but it would be nice if [management team] checked in with us more often and just asked how we were. I would feel more valued especially with how short staffed we are." However, another staff member said, “The managers have been great, things have really changed recently. We have become a team again working together.”

We observed a daily huddle between the management team and staff, as part of this meeting staff well being and enablement were discussed. Records and feedback showed staff were supported with reasonable adjustments, where needed, to support their role.