Bionicare (Domiciliary Care Agency)

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

People were supported by kind and compassionate staff who knew them well as individuals. Staff supported people to make choices and be as independent as they chose to be. They enjoyed working at the service. People were very positive about the support they had from the staff team.

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.

People were incredibly positive about the kind and caring nature of the staff team and how well they were supported. Their comments included, ‘‘You can tell the staff really care and it is not just a job for them. They wouldn’t do the things they do or support me how they do if they didn’t. The staff are so good and support me really well.’’ and ‘‘The staff are really caring. They are all always there for you and this goes for all the staff who work with me on the daily basis as well as the management staff. They are all brilliant and we call ourselves the ‘Bionicare family’. This isn’t just a phrase, and it really does feel like this because of how kind everyone is.’’ The staff team were passionate about supporting people and we observed them speaking with people in a kind and caring way. They told us how they supported people when they felt upset or anxious and the signs people showed when they needed this support. The management team visited people using the service regularly and saw this as an important part of their job roles.

People told us staff knew them well as individuals and supported them in line with their preferences likes and dislikes. Their comments included, ‘‘Staff know me as well as they know someone in their own family. Even the newer staff are so kind and make a real effort to get to know me. I think because of how often the staff have a chat with us they are always up to date with how we want to be treated.’’ and ‘‘Staff are always asking how we are getting on and how we are all doing. They notice as soon as I need a chat and make sure I am okay because they know me so well.’’

Staff spoke about people as individuals and knew them well. They were passionate about supporting people in line with their preferences. People’s care plans and risk assessments were mostly personalised and well-detailed giving good guidance to staff about how best to support people.

People told us they were supported to make choices in all aspects of their support. One person said, ‘‘I am 100% in control of everything, and the staff make sure they offer me lots of choices. They respect what I choose and help me with this. I have not been able to make choices in the past and it means a lot to me that staff listen to everything I say here.’’ People also told us staff supported them to be independent if this was their choice. One person told us, ‘‘I do all my own cleaning and tidying up and as much as I can do myself. The staff are there to help me if I need support. Sometimes I get anxious going out by myself, so the staff come with me.’’

Staff told us how they offered choices to people and how they supported them to be independent. They told us this was an important part of their job roles, and they understood the importance of this and the positive impact it had on people’s wellbeing. People had detailed care plans in place in relation to independent living skills and how staff could support them with these.

As staffing levels were not always being monitored or audited effectively it was difficult to see how people’s support needs were immediately responded to at all times. Some people needed 1 to 1 support at certain times, and this would not have been possible at some times of the day with the current staffing levels.

However, we observed staff to respond immediately to people’s needs when we visited people’s homes. Staff told us they had enough time to support people with what they needed at any time of the day. One person said, ‘‘[Staff] are quick to come and help me when I need it. They know when I need extra support like a chat or some time to do something as a distraction.’’

Staff enjoyed their job roles and told us they felt well supported by the management team. Staff told us they felt working at the service was like being part of a family and the management team were on hand at all times if they needed support. They told us the management team held staff meetings and supervisions with them to discuss anything they needed or how best to support them to develop and learn new skills in their job roles.