BG Healthcare Cumbria Branch

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 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 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 service always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity.

People told us they were treated with kindness and respect. One person told us, “[Staff] are very friendly. We have a laugh, and we get on great.” Another person told us, “[Staff] are kind, caring and they listen. They know me well and I`m treated with dignity and respect. They always pay attention.”

Staff felt they delivered a high standard of care which promoted people’s dignity and emotional wellbeing. One staff member told us, “When I support somebody with personal care, I ensure people’s privacy and dignity is maintained by using covers or towels. Communication is important and I explain what I am doing as I go along.” Another staff member told us, “I love caring for people. I meet different kinds of people in this role. I get to take [people] shopping and out for lunch, I find this a good experience as I like spending time with people.”

Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

The service 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 generally included person-centred information which reflected them as individuals such as their personalities, preferences and what things like they to do or be involved in.

Staff communicated in ways which reflected people’s preferences. One social care professional told us, “When I reviewed [person’s] care, I made recommendations about their communication needs. This was listened to and staff began to use these strategies. Staff seemed to know their communication needs well.”

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

People were encouraged to maintain their independence and confirmed they were supported to do as much as they could for themselves and were fully involved in their care. One person told us, “Staff always listen to me, and I can tell them what I want. I can choose the gender of my staff. I`m independent as I pick out my own food and choose what clothes to wear. [Staff] do things at my speed.” Another person told us, “I walk with a frame and [staff] shadow me to keep me safe. I also go out with a carer to do my shopping.”

People’s care plans generally provided detailed information about what they could do independently and where they required support. This helped to promote their independence. We discussed with the service how they could ensure people’s care plans always included what parts of the medicines administration process people could do for themselves.

The service 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 and their relatives told us staff responded promptly and were adaptable when needed. One relative told us, “I had to cancel [person’s] care at short notice and [a member of the leadership team] told me not to worry and to just let them know when I needed to resume the [care visits]. They resumed them right away.”

Care records evidenced staff took appropriate action when people required medical support, and informed relatives in a timely way.

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

Staff told us the registered manager, and the leadership team was supportive and approachable. One staff member told us, "[Registered manager] is wonderful, makes everything easy, and knows how to treat staff. One staff member told us, “Staff welfare is important [to the registered manager]. We have seen improvements with how visits are allocated and there is more flexibility now. Another staff member told us, “I am treated very well and fairly. The [service] does a monthly recognition reward. That makes me feel good.”

The registered manager told us, “We have an employee assistance programme and hold drop-in sessions for staff to promote their wellbeing.”