Help at Home Care Service

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

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.

Staff demonstrated a compassionate approach with people. Staff showed warmth and respect during interactions, ensuring people felt valued and listened to. One staff member said, “It’s rewarding, love seeing different faces, love the communication and support and making sure that people have the day-to-day things and working with other staff on double handed calls.”

People, relatives and health care professionals told us staff were kind and caring. Comments from people and relatives included, “There is nothing I’ve asked them to do which they refused.” Broadly speaking they have a good personality and are easy to talk to. They have demonstrated empathy and caring and treated my relative with respect and dignity.” Another said, “They are all very good and caring.”

People were encouraged to retain and fully express their individuality and share their sense of humour with others. One person explained, “The carers have a good caring personality, and we have a laugh, we enjoy each other’s company, and it makes the caring role a very pleasant experience.” We observed staff engaged in relaxed, friendly conversations, using humour appropriately and always maintaining privacy.

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 described staff as very nice people, always helpful and with a good sense of humour. People told us, “When I wake up in the morning, I’m not with it, so it is important to have carers that understand me and do all the areas of care I most require, which they do.” another said, “They are very easy to approach and have a very bright personality, in fact we see them as close friends down the road kind of atmosphere.”

Staff delivered kind and compassionate care. They always looked for ways to improve people’s lives. Professionals told us, “The care they provide is always kind, respectful, and person centred.”

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

People and their relatives told us, “The carers are well trained and very professional and always pleased to see my relative” and “they cover all the duties, and it never feels rushed.” A professional said, “They treat people with dignity, encourage independence where possible, and ensure that they feel valued and listened to.”

Care staff told us, “I try to reassure them to try and keep their confidence and be there to support and encourage them to do things.”

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.

Staff demonstrated patience and attentiveness when supporting people. Care staff took time to listen and allowed people to choose for themselves. One staff member explained, “When I am about to carry out personal care, if they decline, I document it and I let the on-call know, if someone declines I always try and encourage them and say its fine, we can try again at lunchtime, doing it subtly, I don’t want them to feel bad.”

Some people sometimes found it difficult to manage their emotions. This could result in them becoming distressed and agitated. Staff had guidance on how to support people at these times and what they could do to alleviate their anxieties.

People and their relatives were confident staff consistently met people’s needs and responded promptly to any additional or emergency needs. People said, “I feel the carers cover all the duties in the given time and will do extra if needed, rather than leave early”, “There have been a couple of occasions when my relative was unwell when I was away and the carers stayed with them in my absence. I’m very happy with the flexibility.”

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

The provider supported staff with caring responsibilities by offering flexible working arrangements and adjusting shift patterns, so staff had a positive and improved work-life balance. Care staff told us, “If I’m given too many hours, I will say and they have knocked it down straight away.” One member of staff said, “It can be exhausting if other staff go sick and are asked to do extra shifts.” A small number of staff were working excessive hours at their own request. The provider agreed this posed a risk to both the care staff and peoples’ safety and capped care staff hours to mitigate the risk.

Staff who were not confident accessing eLearning were given 1 to 1 support in the office to complete their mandatory training. Staff told us, “Office staff are supportive with paperwork so it is not an issue, anything that is new they will spend 1 to 1 time with you to show you what to do.”

At Christmas staff were given a £50 voucher. Interest free loans were available, and staff had access to free mental health and well-being support.