Ann House

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 service 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 service always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion.

We observed staff interacting with people in a kind and respectful way. This was reflected in the feedback we received. One relative told us, “It's a good service and they look after [person] well. The staff are nice.” Another relative told us, “The staff are great, and have gone above and beyond with [person].” One health and social care professional told us, “Staff are very sensitive and very patient with people.”

Staff felt they delivered a high standard of care which gave people dignity and privacy. One staff member told us, “When giving personal care, we help to keep people covered. We do our best to give people privacy.”

Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. One health and social care professional told us, “I visit people at short notice. The staff team are very good with me and are accommodating.”

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 strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

People’s care plans mostly included person-centred information which reflected them as individuals such as their personalities, preferences and what things like they to do or be involved in.

Staff mostly took account of people’s culture and protected characteristics. People were able to observe their religion. One staff member told us, “[Person] goes to church on Sunday.”

During our observations, staff appeared to communicate with people in a way which they preferred.

Communication plans contained clear guidelines for staff on how people communicated, including through behaviour. One relative told us, “[Person] has significant communication needs, but staff can understand their needs.” One staff member told us, “We are very aware that behaviour is communicating an emotion.”

While staff were described as kind and caring, some people, relatives, and visiting healthcare professionals told us that language barriers with some staff, occasionally impacted daily communication.

The service 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 access any employment, volunteering, education and learning opportunities that they wanted to access. One person told us, “I do a work programme where I learn different skills. I really enjoy it.”

Staff supported people to stay safe online and to maintain relationships with their family and friends. One person told us, “I have contact with family. I go on social media on my own, and staff have helped me to use that safely.” Another person told us, “I feel more independent out in the community. I go to see my [relative] too and staff take me there.”

Staff supported people to attend meaningful and person-centred activities. We saw evidence staff involved people in planning for activities and observed a planning meeting.

One staff member told us, “There are no barriers to people attending activities. They tell us what they want to do, and they get to do it.” One person told us, “I have been to concerts and have some lined up. I am very excited about this.” One relative told us, “[Person’s] quality of life has really improved. They go out clothes shopping and enjoy pampering sessions and doing crafts.” Another relative told us, “[Person] is very active most days and takes part in their preferred sports activities.”

People had choice and control over their own lives. One person told us, “We get choice and I have access to food whenever I want it. I have my own snack box where I can get snacks when I want.”

The service 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 working closely with people and their relatives to understand signs and symptoms of when people were unwell. Staff acted quickly to prevent any avoidable distress.

Staff understood how people communicated their needs and where people required immediate support around their mental or physical needs, we saw examples of staff involving the appropriate services. One relative told us, “The nurses’ skills are very good when [person] isn't very well. Their mental health deteriorates very quickly, and staff involve the GP and other health professionals.” One health and social care professional told us, “Staff are very responsive and ring us straight away if they need to query anything.”

There were enough staff available to ensure people’s needs could be met immediately where required.

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

All the staff members we spoke with enjoyed working for the service and most spoke warmly about the registered manager and the management team, and how supportive they were. One staff member told us, “The managers are very supportive, and we can call them anytime. They are always happy to help.”

The management team promoted staff wellbeing. One staff member told us, “When I was not well and off sick, managers were really supportive. When I returned to work, they reviewed how to work around my health needs.”

Staff had supervision with a line manager where they could discuss their own wellbeing and any concerns about people’s care.