Starmedi Healthcare Services 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 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. People spoke positively about the staff supporting them. Comments included, “Staff are lovely, sweet, all very kind and attentive”, and “I have a lovely carer called [staff name], she’s my star, she has the brightest smile and cheers me up.” Staff told us, “We ensure [kindness, compassion and dignity] by involving people in decisions about their care, listen to their concerns, and respect their preferences on things like religion. Their confidentiality is maintained by keeping their information secure and only sharing it with relevant people.” The manager said they completed spot checks on staff to ensure people were being supported with kindness, compassion and dignity. People’s care plans were written in a way that promoted their dignity.

The provider treated people as individuals and make 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 had detail about people’s likes, dislikes, life history and things which were important to them and staff felt they had enough information to support people effectively. One staff member commented, “We have information on how [people] preferred to be called, requirements on their diet, their gender preference, what religion they practice and how they want their care to be done. We use the information to tailor people's care by making sure that all information collected about them is used to make sure their diet , religious and care needs are met.”

One relative told us they felt staff did not always understand a person’s needs. They told us, “I don’t feel they quite understand [relative] or dementia in general. I don't get a sense they appreciate the nature of dementia generally let alone [relative’s] quirks. If [relative] is frustrated or not complying, they will tell me Mum wasn’t happy, didn’t cooperate, or shouted at us as if they don't expect her to do any of those things.”

However, staff had completed training in dementia awareness. Other people we spoke to felt staff knew them and their individual preferences.

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 care plans had information about what support was required and where people were able to make choices about their care. For example, 1 person’s care plan stated, ‘[Person] will inform you of their meal of choice’. Staff gave examples of how they supported people to be independent. One staff member said, “I support people by encouraging them to do things on their own like dressing themselves, eating, moving around on condition I have assessed it is safe to do so.” The manager also told us they had supported a person to withdraw their money from a bank. The manager said, “We are there to support.” This shows that although staff are aware of choice and independence, it is not fully embedded into the team culture.

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 did not raise any concerns about how staff supported them to meet their needs. Comments from people included, “[The manager] is on the ball, she is always on the end of the phone”, “[My relative’s] care plan is currently a moving target, every day she is different, some days she is sleeping all day. They have been very kind, very accommodating”, and “If I send a text message they do respond quickly, even on the weekend or out of hours.”

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

Staff spoke positively about how they were supported. One staff member said, “They show they value me by listening to my concerns and acknowledging them, give me opportunity to grow or develop in my role and the management have an open-door policy.” The manager said they considered flexible working requests with a view to adjusting. The manager told us, “All of us are flexible, we don’t want to pressure each other.”