UniqCare Islington

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.

This is the first assessment for this newly registered service. This key question has been rated 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.

Care staff supported people to express their views using their preferred method of communication. For example, if a person’s first language was not English or if physical or psychological communication barriers existed. This was recorded in people’s care records. Care staff, in partnership with people using the service, agreed the most effective ways of ensuring clear communication and this was recorded in care plans.

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.

We viewed evidence in care plans of an individual approach to each person being supported. Care plans described people’s unique character using people’s own voice that puts them at the centre as individuals and not just focused on care tasks required.

Care workers told us, “I do this by respecting people’s choices and asking and explaining my role at any visit before carrying out care.”

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

People's privacy, dignity and independence were respected. People’s care plans described how care staff should support people in a way that respected their privacy and dignity and encouraged people to maintain as much independence as they reasonably could.

A care worker described how they promoted people’s independence choices and control, they said, “I seek consent before providing care, involve the client and treat them with the dignity and respect as they deserve. I am continuing to develop an understanding with them about their confidentiality, their wants, and effective care.”

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.

The provider operated an on-call system for people using the service and staff to contact the agency outside of office hours in case of urgent contact needed with the agency.

Care staff were able to describe what they would do to respond to immediate needs, for example, “I assess the situation, check on my client’s safety, determine if it requires immediate attention and emergency services. I then inform management, record the events with the facts.” We were also told that, “First, I make sure the client is safe and provide support within my training and role. I then will assess the situation, while staying with my client, if necessary, to determine if this requires immediate attention. Then I will inform my supervisor and record to report what happened.”

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

Care staff told us, “I feel well supported by my organisation due to their providing of free training and regular meetings” and “I receive the appropriate training, guidance and support I need to carry out my role safely and confidently.”

The service fostered good relationships with and among the staff team through the support mechanisms in place, for example during quarterly 1-1 supervision and day to day communication and regular staff team meetings.