Beehive Care & Training Group Ltd

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 outstanding: This meant people were truly respected and valued as individuals; and empowered as partners in their care in an exceptional service.

This service scored 95 (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 was exceptional at treating people with kindness, empathy and compassion and in how they respected people’s privacy and dignity.

The provider had a deeply embedded culture of kindness, compassion and dignity, with staff consistently going above and beyond to meet both the emotional and physical needs of people. They supported people above and beyond the agreed care plan through their ‘Customer Treat’ programme. Every quarter, staff nominate a person who they feel need a treat. The person is then treated, with no charge to them. Examples of this included a hand massage, having their nails painted or going out into the community.

People and relatives consistently described care as kind, respectful and personal, with strong, trusting relationships between carers and those they supported evident. People told us, “It’s first-class care. They are kind and helpful with everything”, “They are genuine professional people and all of them are very easy to talk to. I have a really great relationship with all of them. I would struggle without them now; they are more like friends to me now” and “They are all kind. They talk to us nicely. We have a good relationship with them all.” Relatives told us, “They are pretty flexible, kind and patient with [relative]” and “They are very pleasant and kind and caring. It’s so reassuring for us.” One professional told us, “I have always found the carers at Beehive to be caring, kind and considerate when working with some of the most vulnerable people in our community.”

Care was highly personalised and innovative in responding to individual preferences and needs. For example, 1 person who had a reduced appetite, the introduction of smaller, more frequent food options resulted in the person eating more, preventing deterioration. Another person was reluctant to accept support; a small regular care team with consistent timings was introduced, and staff introduced tasks using a step-by-step approach. This meant the person accepted the support needed and was less anxious.

Staff protected people’s privacy during personal care, communicated respectfully, and adapted their approach to individual needs. People told us, “They are so respectful of me when they are doing my personal care” and “They are approachable, kind and caring. They show me respect and consider my privacy and dignity in everything they do. They give me time.” One relative told us, “They always treat him with respect, I’ve no complaints. I would recommend them.” One staff member told us, “For privacy I close doors, curtains, cover with a towel when doing personal care, I ask them for consent before touching them, offer them choices and obviously support them to be independent.”

The impact of these approaches was clear: people felt valued, safe and emotionally supported, anxiety was reduced, health outcomes improved, and relatives had exceptional confidence in the care provided.

Professionals observed compassionate practice, including managers stepping in to provide hands-on care when needed to preserve people’s dignity. One professional told us, “All care, senior and management staff have very good knowledge of their client’s needs, and all appear kind, compassionate and caring in my experience. There have been discussions of dignity in person’s home especially around toileting and personal care preferences and I have witnessed respect to people on all joint visits. I have observed management step in to assist a person’s care when they were short staffed of carers for a visit giving the person additional time and assistance where a particular task had been difficult for them to manage themselves.”

Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. One professional told us, “I have had a lot of dealings with Beehive over the last 2 years and have never had any concerns about the way they treat me.”

The provider treated people as individuals and was exceptional in how they made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences.

People and relatives told us care was individualised, staff knew them well and care was adapted as needs changed, for example following deterioration in mobility or health. Comments from relatives included, “They are all lovely and know [relative] and [relatives] quirks well. They just know if [relative] is having a good or a bad day” and “They have adapted well to [relatives] changing needs as [relative] is deteriorating.”

People told us they were supported by a consistent staff team who knew them well. Comments included, “Generally the staff are consistent, and they all know me well. I like them all” and “The staff are very consistent, and they know me and I know them very well. That’s important to me.”

Assessments and care plans captured what was important to people, how they wished to be supported, and how staff should communicate with them. Care plans included guidance on routines, preferences, communication needs and positive approaches to support independence.

The manager explained the assessment process which was completed with the person. They explained this ensured they understood each person’s individual likes, routines and preferences. They explained once this was completed, they worked with the person to regularly review as some things may not have been discussed at the assessment.

The service had recently introduced a ‘new customer observation form.’ This enabled the service to gather information regarding what was working well, not working well, and to identify any other support required that needed to be incorporated into the care plan. We were given an example of how this had worked well to ensure the person was receiving the care that they wanted and needed.

The manager explained as people’s needs and wishes could change over time; regular reviews were in place to ensure support always reflected these changes.

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.

People were consistently listened to and supported to have choice, control and independence. One person told us, “They have massively helped me to become more independent. They have given me more confidence in myself and confidence in my life and helped me be a bit more independent from my family.” One professional told us, “Beehive actively seeks to empower people to live as independent life as possible.”

Care plans contained a section on ‘Support with Daily Living to Remain at Home.’ This clearly described how staff should encourage people to do as much as they could for themselves, using positive risk-taking approaches where appropriate. Examples included supporting people to cook safely, maintain daily routines, attend community activities and remain involved in decisions about their care. Staff consistently offered choices during visits, explained care clearly, and respected people’s right to refuse support. This approach helped people to maintain autonomy and confidence.

The manager gave an example of how they had supported someone who was anxious about losing their independence to accept the support they needed. This person, who had fallen a few times, needed an Occupational Therapist assessment, but was refusing this as they didn’t want to lose their independence. The manager sat with the person, reviewed their care plan, and explained the benefits of the assessment in supporting them to maintain their independence. The person accepted this, and they were able to put things in place to lower the risk of falls but still enable the person to have their independence.

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.

The service demonstrated strong responsiveness during changes in health, crisis situations and hospital discharges.

Managers and senior staff regularly provided hands-on care to maintain continuity and safety, including when staffing pressures arose.

Staff identified early signs of deterioration, escalated concerns promptly, and worked closely with health and social care professionals to ensure people received timely support. One staff member told us, “Any issues, we report it to the GP or district nurse.”

External professionals described the service as proactive, flexible and reliable, with good communication and joint working during urgent situations and transitions. One professional told us, “The agency is very clear about their service criteria, when care needs to be adjusted or increased or when moving and handling equipment is required to ensure increased person, relative or carer safety. Beehive is very proactive at making contact with the appropriate team promptly especially when the need is urgent but also for routine needs.”

This responsiveness helped people feel safe and well supported at critical times.

The provider always cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and was exceptional at supporting and enabling staff to always deliver person-centred care.

Systems and processes were in place to support workforce wellbeing. This included an employee assistance programme, peer shout-out, carer of the month and supervisions. We were told the providers policy is to complete supervisions 3 monthly, however carers received these monthly because they were lone working and in an isolated role.

The manager told us, “We have a diverse team. Adjusting how we support them is important. It enriches our service as we are able to empathise with people.” Throughout the assessment we were provided with examples of the provider promoting flexible working arrangements to support work life balance and making reasonable adjustments for staff with health conditions or neurodiversity. This included adapting training approaches, providing additional support and extending probation where needed. Numerous staff spoke about how well the provider supported them with this, with 1 staff member telling us they “Felt accepted.”

Staff consistently told us they felt supported, valued and listened to, and described the service as a positive place to work. Comments included, “I’ve worked with different care companies and hands down this company and management have been the best ones I’ve been with” and “They’re amazing, they’ve been amazing towards me. If I’ve needed help in anything they’re always there for me to ask for help. The managers are amazing, compared to other businesses I’ve worked for. I couldn’t ask for a better management team than what we have.”

Staff felt supported, valued and enabled by managers, which contributed to high morale and a compassionate approach to care. This strong support for staff directly benefited people by promoting consistent, kind and person-centred care.