Brendoncare St Giles View

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• 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 treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. However, some staff on occasions were not always sufficiently communicative and engaged with people.

We observed on day 1 whilst staff were all polite, at various times of the day the atmosphere on different floors was quiet with limited conversations for some people. Some staff missed the opportunity on occasions to chat with people when interacting with them, beyond saying, “here is your meal [or] drink” We also saw on 1 floor at lunchtime, some staff did not respond to people on occasions who were struggling to cut their meal. Some staff were also observed to cut people's meal up without asking them. A couple of people commented to us that some staff lacked the same level of empathy and initiative as most of the staff team.

However, on the second day, we noted there was a greater level of energy and interaction from staff overall. This has been fed back to the provider who has advised they will be reviewing the staff mix on different shifts.

People and relatives said overall staff treated people very well. Feedback included, “They are kind” and “Very well treated, they [staff] are kind and considerate.” Staff had completed training in dignity and had access to the provider’s privacy and dignity in care policy.

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’s care plans detailed their day-to-day needs, likes and preferences about their care and took account of the impact of any protected characteristics. A person’s care plan noted the impact of their physical disability upon how they needed staff to assist them with personal care to ensure their comfort.

People’s care plans identified their communication needs and how these were to be met. For example, staff had considered a person’s wishes not to use their hearing aids and instead communicated with them using a white board.

People told us, how staff ensured their religious beliefs were known, respected and met. A person’s care plan noted they did not routinely eat a food on religious grounds and that staff should be aware of this but also that staff should respect the person’s right to make decisions based on their current preferences. People said, staff enabled them to attend church services. We saw a mix of both church services and hymn sessions were scheduled.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

People told us staff supported their independence where possible, which we observed overall. People said they did what they could for themselves, and staff then assisted them with any tasks they could not manage.The service was fitted with acoustic monitoring technology which staff are due to start using early next year. This will enable staff to remotely monitor sounds to alert them to potential concerns for people, whilst respecting their right to privacy.

People were supported to maintain relationships and networks that were important to them. People were able to see their visitors as they wished.

People living on all floors had access to a range of activities each day of the week and the local community to promote and support their independence, health and wellbeing. People had various activities to choose from, including group activities and one to one activities. Staff told us how they had set up a gardening club with people. They said they had pallets ready to be made into pallet gardens for people to fill. Staff also enabled people to undertake activities of special interest to them. Staff had taken 1 person to London to attend the Proms. People also had the opportunity to engage with volunteers who worked within the service.

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.

We saw people had access to call bells and we did not observe people having long waits for assistance. People said overall they did not have to wait long for help.

Staff were seen to be responsive to people’s signs of agitation and understood how to support them in accordance with the guidance in their care plan. Their care plan detailed their past work history which provided staff with a talking point when addressing their agitation. We saw staff encourage a person who could experience agitation to assist them with a task, which engaged the person and which they enjoyed.

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

The provider’s statement of purpose detailed their aim to be an equal opportunity service provider and employer, promoting opportunities for everyone and positively valuing diversity within the organisation. The provider was inclusive and had recruited a diverse workforce.

The provider valued their workforce and provided a range of reward schemes and awards to support staff and to recognise them for good work. There were schemes to support and promote staff’s well-being, such as mental health first responders and an employee assistance programme, whereby staff could access a range of advice, support and counselling services. The provider had a stress awareness tool for use with staff during supervisions where required.