Alas Healthcare

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 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 consistently treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff also treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

People told us staff were kind, caring and treated them with dignity and respect. Care records reflected the provider’s commitment to promoting and maintaining people’s dignity. Staff completed training in dignity in care and spoke about the people they supported with warmth, compassion and respect. The provider respected people’s preferences regarding who delivered their care. For example, where people requested female staff, the provider accommodated these requests.

The provider did not always treat people as individuals or ensure care, support and treatment reflected their needs and preferences. The provider did not consistently record or consider people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, cultural needs, backgrounds and protected characteristics when planning and delivering care.

For example, records for one person stated they enjoyed attending church. However, the provider had not recorded whether the person currently attended church or whether staff needed to provide any support to help them continue practising their faith. The provider had not always recorded people’s communication needs in sufficient detail. For example, records did not consistently identify whether people required glasses, hearing aids or other support to help them understand information and communicate effectively.

Staff told us they treated people as individuals and promoted people’s choice and independence. Staff also told us they often obtained information directly from people to understand their preferences and support needs because care records did not always contain sufficient personalised information. However, people’s needs might not always be met by all staff as staff did not have complete and up-to-date information about all people’s individual needs and preferences to support people consistently.

The provider promoted people’s independence and supported them to maintain choice and control over their care, treatment and wellbeing.
People spoke positively about the staff who supported them and told us they were happy with the care they received. When concerns arose about staffing arrangements, the provider took action to address them and offered alternative staff members. People told us they were satisfied with these arrangements and experienced positive outcomes from the support they received.
Although comprehensive care records were not available, staff could describe how they encouraged people to maintain their independence and retain daily living skills wherever possible. People told us they had choice about who provided their care and could request male or female staff in line with their preferences. The provider respected people’s choices and accommodated these preferences whenever possible.

The provider listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff responded to people’s changing needs and took action to minimise discomfort, anxiety and distress.

Staff demonstrated a good understanding of how to recognise changes in people’s needs and acted appropriately when concerns arose. The registered manager described the process staff followed when people required urgent support. Staff assessed the situation, escalated concerns promptly, and contacted emergency services when necessary. Staff remained with people, provided reassurance, preserved their dignity and informed the registered manager of any significant concerns.

The provider promoted staff wellbeing and supported staff to deliver person-centred care.
The registered manager fostered a supportive and positive working culture. Staff told us they felt supported in their roles and could contact the office whenever they needed advice or assistance. The registered manager maintained an open-door approach, monitored staff wellbeing, workloads and sickness levels, and encouraged staff to take appropriate breaks.
The provider supported staff to work safely and effectively. Staff had access to lone working procedures and an on-call service outside office hours, which enabled them to obtain advice and support when needed. These arrangements helped staff feel supported and enabled them to provide safe, person-centred care.