The Private Care Company

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. The provider and staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

People and relatives told us staff were kind and caring. Comments included, “Staff are very kind, caring and respectful” and “Most of the carers are kind, caring and treat [person] with dignity and respect.” Staff gave examples of how they protected people’s dignity and treated them with respect. For example, one staff member told us some people they supported rarely got visitors and how they looked forward to visits from staff. They said, “I be myself, a happy bubbly person. I go in with a smile and respect them and their home. If I am feeling sad, I'm not going to go in sad because I want them to be happy.” Feedback from external professionals and partners about staff and leaders was positive. Comments included, “One member of staff particularly impressed me. They were a live-in carer and supporting a person with a host of safeguarding issues. The carer demonstrated incredible kindness, stoicism and patience keeping the person safe and meeting their needs” and “[Staff name] remains calm, professional, and also caring.”

The provider treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences.

People had been involved in their care planning. Relatives spoke positively about how staff treated their loved ones and valued the support and companionship they provided. A relative said, “[Person] has exceptional carers who are kind and thoughtful. [Person] smiles so much more now. [Staff] do little things like leaving some cut up grapes, apples and strawberries on [person’s] table. They got [person] out of bed and into a chair after 2 years of them staying in bed. [Staff] communicate and have a laugh with [person].” Professionals described staff as calm, patient and respectful. Care plans contained information about people’s life history, their interests and cultural and religious needs. Staff treated people as individuals. One staff member said, “I ask [people] a lot of questions about themselves and their interests. I have a client with [fluctuating memory] who is terrible with names. [They] call me [nickname], which I don't mind. I told other staff to call me [that nickname] when [person] wants to know who is coming next. They do and [person] gets excited when they know [nickname] is coming.” The provider shared examples of how they treated people as individuals. We viewed photographic examples of staff working with people to support their individual interests and hobbies.

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.

People had choice and control over their lives and were encouraged to be independent where possible. Relatives told us staff supported people’s independence. Comments included, “[Staff] try to encourage [person’s] independence when able” and “Independence is encouraged, very much so.” Staff understood how to promote people’s independence. However, care plans did not always detail what people could do independently, or goals they could work towards to be more independent. The provider and leaders were open to feedback and took immediate actions to make service improvements. This included ensuring care plans had detailed guidance on people’s capabilities. However, this will take time to fully embed.

The provider did not always listen to and understand people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff did not always respond to people’s needs in the moment or act to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress.

Responsiveness to people’s immediate needs was inconsistent. People did not always have robust care plans to guide safe practice. This included physical health and emotional needs. Daily notes were not always detailed to demonstrate effective action staff had taken. Although people had not been harmed, there was an increased risk they would not be supported effectively if new staff did not know them well. The provider and leaders were open to feedback and took immediate actions to make service improvements. This included strengthening assessment processes and oversight of care records. However, this will take time to fully embed.

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

Some staff told us the provider did not always have work incentives or flexibility for taking less than a week’s holiday at a time. The registered manager said, “We will add a topic of new initiatives to the next newsletter. We will be getting a [budget] for bonuses after the first year and will explain how that will happen. But we can't give staff 1 day’s annual leave at a time. We do have a ‘shift swap’ which they can organise amongst themselves, so there is that flexibility. We will remind staff about this in the next newsletter.” The provider had various existing initiatives available for staff. This included a cycle to work scheme, “Go the extra mile” health and wellbeing voucher, confidential phone counselling scheme and where possible, approximately half of staff were paid for fixed shifts rather than being paid per homecare call. Staff told us when they had experienced personal difficulties, they were offered access to the free counselling service. Where staff had experienced challenges with their physical and mental health, leaders worked with them to provide support and make the necessary work adjustments. The provider told us they celebrated good practice of staff. They held OSCA (Outstanding Service and Care Awards) events to celebrate staff achievements and this was shared in newsletters. Staff had an employee handbook with them at all times. This contained policies and guidance for staff. The provider had a personal safety and lone working policy in place which was relevant to the service. Lone‑working risk assessments were in place to help ensure staff remained safe at work.