Gentle Folk Community Care

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. The inspection showed the service had a caring and thoughtful culture, meaning the people they supported, their relatives, each other and professionals were treated with respect and kindness. One relative said, “The staff are very respectful to [relative] and consult with [relative] on their needs. [Relative] is cooperative but needs encouragement and staff do that with respect.” Whilst a staff member told us, “[Nominated individual for the service] is a kind and caring director who believes firmly in the wellbeing of their employees and service users.”

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. People told us this and the records we viewed confirmed that. The people we spoke with told us that staff treated people as individuals and respected their wishes and gave us examples of that. The care records we viewed were person-centred and respected people’s individuality and their need to have care in the way they chose.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. The care records we viewed placed an emphasis on people’s independence and the need for them to remain in control of the care they received and the people we spoke with confirmed this. Additionally, staff demonstrated they understood and respected this approach with one telling us, “I encourage independence by supporting people to be themselves while assisting where needed. When helping people make choices, I provide options and always respect their decision even if it’s not what I would choose.”

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 told us they felt listened to by staff and the service and gave examples of where staff had supported them in emergencies. One relative said, “Our contact is [staff member’s name]; they are wonderful, kind and caring. I can get in touch with them and they phoned me when [relative] was in hospital. No complaints and if we did, I would go to [staff member’s name]; they would absolutely listen. Always, things are dealt with.”

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. Staff consistently told us they felt valued, appreciated and cared for by the provider and their colleagues. They told us they were supported and encouraged to develop personally and professionally and that delivering a good quality, person-centred service was a priority. One staff member said, “The culture within the service has been impressive. The management have managed to create a safe, open, nurturing, supportive and transparent relationship with every staff member. It really feels likes being part of a close-knit community. Staff voices are carefully listened to and I definitely feel valued as an employee.”