21 Hartsworth Close

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 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.

During our assessment, we observed warm, caring and compassionate interactions between staff and people living at the service. People appeared comfortable and relaxed in the presence of staff and engaged positively with them. This was evident across the staff team, including members of the management team.

People told us staff were caring and treated them with respect. One person said, “Staff are really nice, they come and spend time talking to me, talking so nicely and treating me with respect. I can talk to every one of them and they are all so helpful.”

The registered manager and nominated individual told us they regularly observed interactions between staff and people as part of their quality assurance processes. This helped them ensure staff consistently delivered care and support in a respectful and person-centred way. Their observations were also discussed during staff supervision sessions to promote reflection and continuous improvement.

A professional spoke positively about the impact the service had on people’s wellbeing. They told us, “The feedback I received from a person and their family was extremely positive. Being in the service has led to significant improvements in the person’s wellbeing which happened after such a short time of them moving there.”

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 and support was person centred and people were involved in deciding how they wished to be supported. Their preferences, choices and desired outcomes were clearly documented within their care plans. Care records reflected people’s individual circumstances, interests and experiences, providing staff with a clear understanding of the people they supported and the lives they had led.

Staff demonstrated a good knowledge of people they supported and understood how to meet their individual needs. A staff member told us, “We sit down with people, and we spend quality time talking to them. We ask people how they are, what they might want and engage them in conversation to make them feel at ease and able to talk to us.”

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 clearly detailed the support people required and were written in a way which enabled staff to understand their responsibilities and how best to support people to maximise their independence and achieve their goals.

During our assessment, we observed people independently accessing the local community, using their own front door keys to come and go as they wished. People were supported to make decisions about how they spent their time and pursue activities which were meaningful to them. Some people were actively seeking employment while others chose to engage in leisure activities reflecting their personal interests and preferences.

People chose the food they wanted to eat and were supported to plan meals, shop and prepare food when required. Some people managed their own finances independently, while others received support to budget and develop safe money management skills. Support arrangements were tailored to individual’s needs and were clearly documented within their care plans.

People received support with medicines in a way which promoted their independence. Some people managed and administered their own medicines and stored them securely in their rooms, while others were supported by staff to ensure their medicines were taken safely and at prescribed times.

Staff demonstrated an understanding of the importance of promoting choice and supporting people to make their own decisions. One staff member told us, “We have conversations with people about what they are wanting, it’s never a no, always a yes, but we get them to think about the consequences of their decisions.”

The provider involved people living at the service in decisions about who they lived with. When new people were being considered for the service, existing tenants were given opportunities to meet them and share their views. The registered manager told us, “It’s important that people are compatible and get on. When you live with people the last thing you need is tensions within your home, so we get them to meet to see if they are comfortable with any new people who might move in.”

The provider also involved people in the recruitment of new staff. The registered manager described how a person living in the service had recently participated in the recruitment process for a new member of staff. They met the prospective employee and were encouraged to share their views about the candidate’s suitability to work at the service. This helped ensure people had a meaningful role in decisions about who supported them.

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.

The consistency and experience of the staff helped to ensure people’s needs were well understood and responded to effectively. People had regular key worker meetings where they were encouraged to discuss their needs, wishes and progress. This helped ensure care and support remained person centred and reflected what was important to them.

Records showed people were encouraged and supported to access healthcare services promptly when they experienced changes in their health or had concerns about their wellbeing. Staff acted appropriately to help ensure people received timely access to healthcare and treatment when needed.

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 working for the provider. They told us they felt well supported by the management and had access to training and development opportunities they needed to undertake their roles effectively. One staff member said, “I really enjoy coming to work, we work as a team. The management and senior manager are all lovely and are so easy to talk to.”

The registered manager told us the provider had introduced a range of initiatives to support staff wellbeing, including an employee of the month award scheme, access to free counselling service and an annual financial incentive. They said, “We also treat staff with dignity and respect. When you do this, you find they [staff] treat everyone like it too.”

Staff received regular supervision and had personal development plans in place to support their ongoing learning and professional growth. All staff completed mandatory training and were supported to undertake the care certificate, which provided a comprehensive introduction to working in adult social care and helped staff develop the skills and knowledge required for their roles