Lee Valley Care Services 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 – 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.

On the day of the assessment, we observed kind and caring interactions between staff and the people who lived there. A person told us, “Staff are friendly and I am happy here.”

When a person was found in need of a change in clothes and personal care, staff responded appropriately. Staff maintained the person’s dignity by gently explaining the necessity of changing their clothes and safely assisted them to their room.

A health care professional told us, “All staff are always welcoming and helpful when I visit.”

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 were personalised and reflected people’s likes and dislikes. Staff understood people’s individual needs.

People’s individual dietary needs and preferences were identified. For example, some people required food that was tailored to specific conditions such as diabetes and cultural needs and records reflected this.

The home regularly facilitated celebratory and cultural events such as birthday parties, garden parties and religious celebrations.

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

Care plans identified people’s preferences and choices and how people preferred to have their care needs carried out. People’s care plans identified which aspects of their care they were able to complete themselves and where they required support from staff.

People were encouraged to maintain relationships and connections that were important to them which helped promote emotional wellbeing and reduce social isolation.

One relative told us,” We can visit any time we like.”

People had access to a range of activities and were supported to choose whether they wished to participate, including one to one engagement.

These approaches helped people to maintain their independence, exercise choice and retain control over their daily lives.

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.

Staff responded promptly to people’s immediate needs and picked up on cues from people who were restless. They generally used gentle prompts and open questions to help people decide what they wanted to do, rather than telling them.

They adapted their approach for each person. For example, one person was supported to join in with the activities whilst sitting in a chair with the staff member sitting next to them encouraging them and doing the activity with them. This was an example of a ‘working with’ people culture rather than a ‘doing to’ people culture.

We observed interactions with people throughout the assessment, it was clear staff, and the registered manager, knew people well and responded to their immediate needs with kindness and compassion.

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

Staff we spoke with told us they felt supported and valued by their colleagues and management.

The registered manager had created Champion designations for staff to lead on certain areas of the service such as: Medication, health and safety, fire and activities.

A member of staff said, “It's great that I have been given the opportunity by management to lead in this area of the service, I have learnt a lot, and the team are verysupportive.” Another member of staff told us, “The managers always listen to us and take our ideas onboard.”

During supervision sessions, managers always enquire about staff welfare and asked questions like, “How are you feeling in yourself, what’s been going well/not well and is your workload manageable.”