Gravesend Care 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.

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 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 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.

People told us staff were kind and respectful, one person told us, ‘The staff are very respectful especially when they help with personal care.’

Relatives also shared they felt staff were kind and helpful, one relative told us, ‘I am really happy with how they got [person] to stay calm.’

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 were supported to keep in touch with people that mattered to them and they were supported to meet up with them. People were encouraged to attend other community groups to promote their wellbeing and spend time with others who shared the same interests.

People’s care plans considered their preferences, including preferences around their sexuality. Where people wanted to be referred to by a different name, this was clearly documented and demonstrated by staff during the inspection.

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

People’s care and support plans clearly detailed how staff should support people to be as independent as possible. For example, one person’s care plan detailed they are able to make their own breakfast but need support with lunch and dinner.

People and their relatives told us staff supported them to be independent. One person told us they were happy with how staff supported them to make their dinner.’ A relative also told us, ‘[Person] is a lot happier they can do more for themselves, [person] makes their own drinks etc.’

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 able to call for staff in an emergency during the day and night via a staff phone or their call bells. One person told us the recent thunderstorms had distressed them, and they knew that a staff member would come and comfort them if they were to call for them.

Staff were able to recognise when people might need urgent help or support. For example, daily notes for one person detailed staff identified the person’s physical appearance was not as it normally would be, which prompted staff to ask the person and share concerns with their family.

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 felt the provider supported their wellbeing. One staff member told us, ‘Our wellbeing is supported, we have a really good team. We have team meetings, once every month, we discuss the residents and if there are any risks. We discuss any other matters or concerns including us as staff. They would act on anything we raised, they would listen to us.’

Staff wellbeing was discussed during supervisions and one-to-one meetings, providing opportunities for staff to raise any health concerns and discuss any reasonable adjustments the provider could make to support them.