Royal Mencap Society - Essex Domiciliary Care

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.

Staff provided care in accordance with people’s preferences and requirements. During our visit we observed staff knocking on people’s doors before entering their rooms and maintaining people’s dignity. Staff treated people with kindness and feedback from people and their relatives supported this. Comments included, “They do an amazing job and there are no issues at all” and “Staff help me with cooking and making my bed, and go out with me, it’s brilliant. I’ve got no complaints about any of them.” Staff told us, “We treat people with kindness, patience, and respect” and “My colleagues at all times are kind and considerate to the needs of all the people we support, we all undergo good training and remain compliant.”

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’s individual needs and preferences were well detailed within care plans and risk assessments. For example, some people required food that was tailored to specific conditions such as modified diets and records reflected this. People’s bedrooms were decorated and furnished to people’s personal choices. Staff we spoke with had a good understanding of people’s individual needs and were positive about ensuring people were treated as individuals. One staff member told us, “We take time to listen to individuals and support them in a way that meets their needs.”

Feedback from people and their relatives supported that the provider ensured people were treated as individuals and observations during our on-site visits reflected feedback. For example, 1 person was observed participating in specific craft activities that helps to make them feel calm.

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

People were supported by staff to maintain as much independence, choice and control over their lives as possible. Where required, people had additional 1:1 support to access the community and participate in activities that were specific to their needs. Staff had a good awareness of the importance of promoting independence and people were supported by a staff team who understood their needs well.

People were supported to maintain relationships that were important to them and feedback from relatives confirmed that there were no restrictions on visiting the service and the provider was welcoming.

We observed people being offered choices during our onsite visits.

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.

We observed meaningful interactions between people and staff and staff had built up a good rapport with people. People were supported by a consistent staff team, who were alert to people’s needs. Staff we spoke with had a good understanding of the care and support needs of people they support. One staff member told us, “The support plans put in place for the people we support explicitly states how they want to be supported. The support plans are constantly updated as the needs of the people we support changes.”

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

Feedback we received from staff was consistently positive around the support received from management. Comments included, “Our Service Manager is very kind, supportive and very approachable at all times, nothing is too much trouble, and issues are dealt with professionally” and “The management of our service are very approachable, and in no way do they undermine the effort of the team.”

Staff received regular supervisions and training, and the provider facilitated a ‘managers essentials programme’, which was not just for managers, this is open to all staff to help with their development within their roles.