Mentaur Community Support Limited

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.

At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good.

This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

This service scored 65 (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.

We observed consistently positive interactions between people and staff across all the days of this assessment. Visiting professionals also commented on the positive relationships.

There was a warm and welcoming atmosphere throughout the service.

Staff knew people well and people appeared familiar and comfortable with staff, enjoying time spent together.

We observed staff knocking on doors before entering, demonstrating respect for people's privacy and dignity.

Relatives told us the staff were kind and caring. One person told us,” The carers I have met have been kind and caring." Another said, "They are kind and caring."

The provider did not always treat people as individuals or make sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. They did not always take account of people’s

strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

We found that although two people had birthdays during the week of this assessment, there were no banners or cards to mark the occasions. One person hosted a tea party, but no bunting or celebratory items in place. A birthday cake had been provided by a relative, this had not been cut two days after the person's birthday. At the time no explanation was provided when we asked, however, later management informed us that the person could have accessed the fridge independently. However, as the person required support with meal preparation, we were not assured that their needs and abilities had been appropriately considered. It did not feel as though people's birthdays were recognized and celebrated.

Care plans included information on people's cultural and religious needs.

During our visits we observed people taking part in activities they enjoyed.

People and their relatives told us they felt staff understood their needs and provided appropriate support. One relative told us, “They do treat (person) as an individual. They wanted to bring a friend with them when (person) came to visit us. (person) came with their friend and a carer. (Person) is treated as we would want them to be treated.”

The provider did not always promote people’s independence, so people did not always know their rights and have choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

Care plans required improvement to be developed in line with people's long-term aspirations and to be updated following key worker meetings. The management team assured us full reviews would take place and would involve people and their families; steps had already been taken during this assessment.

We observed staff supporting people to make choices in the moment, including waiting until people were ready and offering support flexibly. For some people, decisions were appropriately

made on the day depending on how they felt, with full independence being supported when appropriate.

People were supported to maintain contact with family, including overnight stays and holidays.

Staff communicated effectively, demonstrating an understanding of people's needs, enabling people to make informed choices.

The RM told us people were involved in the second stage of staff recruitment, helping ensure new staff are a good fit for the service.

People were routinely offered day-to-day choices, including what time to get up or go to bed, clothing, meals and drinks.

People and their relatives confirmed they were given choices. One relative told us, “(Person) has choices. (Person) buys their food. They then ask (person)what they want to eat. (Person) will sometimes ask for something totally different to the choices they were given and they are ok with that."

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.

People were mainly supported by staff who knew them well, which helped ensure their needs were recognized and responded to promptly.

People had access to staff at all times.

Relatives told us their family members were responded to in a timely manner, which aligned with what we observed during this assessment. One family member told us," When (person) is not

well, they will call me. They called me at 8.30am. They asked if we wanted them to make an appointment. They ask but knows that I will make their appointments.” Another said, “They will

respond quickly."

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

Staff had access to a 24-hour helpline for support.

A refer-a-friend scheme was in place, with a bonus paid after the referred staff member had been employed for 3 months.

We saw evidence of reasonable adjustments to support staff including rota arrangement during religious periods and a designated space for prayers. However, some staff told us there were reasonable adjustments requests that had not been implemented.

Several staff were working considerably over a 40 hour week. This was discussed with the management team, who provided reassurance this was being monitored and addressed with staff members and staff we spoke to told us this was through choice.