Care First 24 Ltd

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 outstanding. This meant people were truly respected and valued as individuals; and empowered as partners in their care in an exceptional service.

This service scored 95 (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 was exceptional at treating people with kindness, empathy and compassion and in how they respected people’s privacy and dignity. Staff always treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

The provider demonstrated that kindness and compassion ran throughout the business. Their systems and processes supported this to ensure people were at the centre of their care and received kindness compassion and dignity. The provider cared about the people they supported, and their passion was also demonstrated through staff, and the way they spoke about people. The provider told us, “Someone allowing you to look after their loved one is the biggest honour ever.” Staff organised birthday parties for people, including one at the providers office for one person who had a big birthday celebration.

People and their relatives gave exceptionally positive feedback about the service. Including how the proactive care they had received had impacted their lives in a positive way. The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment.

Relatives told us that they felt staff had time to spend with people and were exceptionally kind. A relative told us, “Mum’s been on the receiving end of bad care with other agencies. It comes down to time and money but it doesn’t feel like this with these guys.” Relatives also told us that staff were kind and caring. This enabled relatives and loved ones to feel they could leave their loved one with staff and they would cared for exceptionally well.

A healthcare professional told us, “Yes. This provider goes above and beyond.The staff are very caring in their daily input.The provider has measures in place to provide additional support to the service user’s support network/informal carers in order to ensure that there is rapport within those that provide formal and informal care.

The provider treated people as individuals and was exceptional in how they made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. The provider took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

People were truly at the heart of the care provided by Care First 24. Care packages were designed around people’s individual needs, likes and preferences. When new staff were needed for packages, where possible the provider organised for people and their loved ones to be involved in the recruitment process to ensure they were the right fit for the person. A relative told us, “They were quite selective, they honoured her preferences.”

People were celebrated for their individuality and their own strengths. Each person had goals and aspirations they worked towards, and these were documented within people’s care plans. Where people were not able to communicate these to staff, staff used their knowledge of the person, what they enjoyed and cared about to help set and achieve people’s goals. Some people had advanced needs , needing support from multiple staff members. However, the provider told us it was important to them and staff that this did not hold people back from achieving the things they wanted to. The provider told us, “We ensure that they still get to do all the things they love to do still.” This included people achieving their last wishes, as well as others achieving longer term goals like living independently, or accessing education for the first time. This increased their confidence and wellbeing.

Relatives told us that staff treated their loved ones as individuals and gave them the time to ensure their voice was heard. Relatives told us, “They listen, they take their time.”
 

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

The provider and staff understood the importance of people having maximum choice and control of their lives. Staff told us how they encouraged people to increase their independence, by encouraging them to carry out household tasks such as washing up after a meal and supporting people to go out and do their food shopping.

One person started their package receiving full care and support from Care First 24. The person had experienced significant self-neglect over a period of time. Staff supported the person in stages to increase their confidence, accept support with personal care, eventually carrying this out themselves. The person made significant progress, that they were able to move to another service, where they needed less interventions from staff. Staff shared with us how proud they were of the person, and the huge change in the person’s life to be able to live independently.

There was a strong desire from staff to enable people to do as much as they could for themselves, to support them to stay at home for longer. This was demonstrated through a discharge pilot scheme where the provider supported to support people to return home quickly after a hospital admission. A healthcare professional told us this was important to ensure people did not lose their skills. Through the pilot Care First 24 were able to support the discharge time to reduce from 14 days to half a day.

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.

People and their relatives told us that staff knew them incredibly well and were responsive to any changes in their presentation and through robust and evolving care plans. Relatives told us that when their loved one was unwell, staff went above and beyond to ensure they received the care and support they needed. For example, one relative told us, “We’ve had a few [staff] stay beyond their time to make sure he’s ok, they won’t leave until he’s ok.” A healthcare professional told us, “Yes, this provider, in my experience of working with them, is very responsive not only to commissioners and case managers but also to people and their next of kin.”

People and their relatives told us how staff were responsive to their needs. A relative told us, “Yes, her urine is carefully monitored, and she’s given more fluids when it’s warmer weather like this, she has a gastrostomy tube, it’s managed fine, she has no signs of dehydration.” Another relative explained to us how staff were working with them to ensure their relative received the most effective care. They said, “Staff definitely know what’s going on. All of us are gently working through what good looks like for mum.”

The provider always cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and was exceptional at supporting and enabling staff to always deliver person-centred care.

Staff received exceptional support with their wellbeing. There was a wellbeing team that supported staff with all aspects of their lives including work and personal. The provider employed a clinical psychologist who provided therapy support sessions for staff. One staff member told us they had accessed these when they had experienced distress. The provider told us, “We can’t expect staff to look after people unless we look after them.”

When needed, staff were supported with ‘mental health days’ which the provider told us staff sometimes used, for example if a person they were supporting passed away. The provider told us, “We can’t expect staff to just be OK the next day. They need time to process the loss and can access the clinical psychologist at any time.”

Staff were supported to follow their passions. One staff member was supported to become the wellbeing champion, and complete mental health first aid training. They used this to start a lunchtime walking group to support staff’s mental health.