Applewood 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 inspection we rated this key question good. At this inspection 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 70 (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 and relatives told us staff were kind. One person said, “Some staff are better than others, but they all support me and treat me well.” Another person told us, “I think all the staff are kind to me.” A staff member told us, “In this job, you have to care and have patience. I do not rush people but give them time and when showering a person or giving them a body wash on their bed, I cover them over and make sure I protect their dignity.”
 

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.

One relative told us their loved one had a preference for female staff only, this wish was now consistently met. The provider confirmed they had sufficient staff to be able to make this gender preference commitment to those individuals who expressed this choice. Relatives felt staff treated their loved one as a ‘person’ and engaged with them during care tasks. One relative told us, “I can hear them having a laugh and a chat together.”
 

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. One relative told us, “Staff offer my loved one encouragement and are gentle.”

Staff understood the importance of promoting independence and giving people choices and control over day-to-day decisions. One staff member told us, “I support [name] and encourage them to change their clothes and do things for themselves. For example, if I apply toothpaste to the brush, then they can brush their teeth.” Another staff member said, “I always encourage people to do small things for themselves as it involves them.”

People and relatives were able to freely access electronic care plans and notes in the home where care calls took place. Relatives told us staff communicated any concerns with them about their loved one.
 

The provider listened to people’s needs, views and wishes and these were generally met.

However, the provider and staff did not always respond to people’s needs in the moment or act to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. During our telephone calls to people and relatives to gain feedback about the service, some told us there was no ‘on-call’ (out of office hours) contact point for them to reach staff. One relative told us, “If there is a changed need, and I need to contact a staff member, there is no way of doing this after 6pm on a Friday, until 9.00am on a Monday.” Another relative told us, “If my loved one is discharged from hospital for example on a Friday night, how do we get the care calls re-started for the weekend.” We discussed the out of hours arrangements with the provider and, after listening to their office phone voice message, they agreed improvement could be made. They took immediate action to make changes and put into place a robust messaging and response service for out of hours contact.

Staff had completed a first aid awareness course, and most could tell us what actions to take in an emergency situation and how to respond to people’s immediate needs. A few staff could not consistently recall knowledge from their training, this was shared with the provider. They took immediate action to arrange refresher training for staff.
 

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. People and relatives told us they did not hear any care staff complaints about the service. One person told us, “The staff appear happy in their jobs.”
Staff felt valued and supported by the provider. One staff member said, “As a team, we all get on well.” The provider sought feedback from staff members and offered developmental opportunities such as apprenticeship employment. Staff employed on the international recruitment sponsorship scheme were positive about the provider and the service with comments including, “I feel very well supported here,” and “The managers do an amazing job, they are good at coaching us.” Individual staff support was in place where needed and included lone working guidance to staff members.