United Support Services

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 80 (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.

Staff demonstrated a genuine fondness and empathy for the people they supported. This had allowed them to build trusting relationships with people so they were relaxed in each other’s company. One person had, for years, expressed amusement by emitting a suppressed laugh or ‘humph.’ After a few months being supported by United Support Services they had become more relaxed and one day had opened their mouth wide and let out a huge laugh. The registered manager told us the person now had a contagious and joyful laugh.
People’s personal relationships were respected and valued by staff. One person had kept in contact with a friend where they had lived previously. Staff had supported them to maintain this friendship, visiting each other in their respective homes.
One person had suffered a bereavement, staff had spent time with them and spoken to them about this. Social stories had been developed with the support of the local learning disability and speech and language teams. These were used to help prepare the person for the bereavement and support them afterwards. We saw staff with the person, looking at a photo of their deceased relative.
Staff celebrated people’s achievements and told us they were proud of how far they had come. One commented, “You couldn't wish for a better job. It's a privilege to watch someone’s progression.”

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.

Staff knew people extremely well and were aware of their strengths and abilities. They supported people to identify goals and think about new experiences they could try as well as continuing to do things they enjoyed. One person loved Disney films and had a large collection of figurines. They had also shown interest in having a holiday. Staff had arranged for them to travel to see a Disney on ice production and spend a couple of nights away which they were very much looking forward to. Staff comments included, “We are supporting people to live the life they want” and “I’m proud of [Name], and I like to see them achieving things.”

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

Supporting people to develop their independence, choice and control was central to the values of the organisation and staff. There was a meaningful focus on enabling people to widen their experiences and independent skills and this had resulted in positive outcomes for people.
Leaders and staff showed a commitment to working alongside people to develop practical life skills which built their independence. For example, food had been perceived as being a trigger for 1 person which could lead to anxiety and changes in their behaviour. Because of this they had not previously been involved in food shopping or preparing meals. Over time staff had worked with the person and gradually supported them to become more involved in preparing food. They had provided consistent reassurance to the person to help lessen their anxieties. As a result, restrictions around access to food had gradually been removed and the person was now able to make a sandwich with minimal support. A member of staff commented, “[Name’s] living skills were non-existent before, over the past year they have started getting involved a lot more.”
The registered manager told us, “We asked ourselves, ‘Why are we picking [Name’s] shopping?’ We introduced a picture of a shopping trolley and pictures of different food items. [Name] chooses what they want, comes to click and collect to pick it up, bags it up, carries it up to the flat and puts it away. They are involved in the whole process.”

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.

There was a clear ethos of pro-actively responding to people’s needs and helping ensure any distress or anxieties were alleviated quickly. All staff were able to describe how people expressed when they were becoming distressed. For example, a member of staff told us 1 person had a complex personal history and could become upset when remembering things. They told us there were certain words they would use which indicated to staff that they were thinking about the past. Staff were alert to this and could support the person to think about other things or offer comfort.
Meeting minutes where incidents had been discussed demonstrated staff were able to respect people’s wishes and respond appropriately. For example, “[Member of staff] offered to drive for another 5 minutes to which [Name] agreed. This would have ensured that [Name] felt listened to and respected in the moment and furthermore that their words were effective.”

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

Staff told us they were well supported and felt valued at work. They received regular supervision and were encouraged to develop professionally. Following any incident the staff involved had a debrief with a PBS lead or manager. They told us this was useful when considering what had gone wrong and also allowed them time to calm and reflect. One commented, “It’s a moment to relax and think about what happened and what we might do differently in the future.”
The provider told us, “Well treated staff provide better care.” They tried to arrange rotas to help ensure staff had every other weekend off to help provide a good work/life balance. The organisation’s intranet had a flexible working request form for staff to use if they wanted to reduce their hours. Staff hours were monitored so managers would be aware if anyone was working excessively long hours. A member of staff told us, “It’s a really good place to work, I just love it here. They (provider and registered manager) run it so well, they are so caring and dedicated.”