Coast Community 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 most 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 and their loved ones told us they were treated with kindness and respect. Comments included, “Yes they seem really good to her and me,” “They are very kind and caring and very supportive” and “Yes, they are extremely supportive to my husband’s needs and always extremely professional.” Staff told us how they respected and protected people’s dignity, one telling us, “Personal care is always carried out in private to protect their dignity.” A relative added, “Yes when they use the commode they cover their legs with a towel and then walk away until she calls them back.” Feedback from partners was equally positive with staff being seen to act kindly and respectfully towards people and their loved ones.

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. Staff knew about people’s preferences, likes, dislikes and preferred routines. People’s wishes were respected. They were given choice of what time to receive their care calls and whether they had any preference for male or female carers. Any other appointments including social events were respected and call times, where safe to do so, were altered to suit people. A range of different cultures, religions and backgrounds were represented among people and everyone was respected and treated as individuals, according to their needs and wishes. A staff member said, “I will always put them first.”

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. Staff acknowledged the importance of people maintaining their independence with daily tasks and activities, within the confines of safety. A staff member told us, “We encourage people to do things for themselves. We let them cook, dress, but we are always there to help.” People were able to make daily choices for example, what clothes to wear and what food to eat as well as where they would like to spend their time each day. Relatives confirmed that their loved ones were encouraged to do some things for themselves, one telling us, “They let them be independent as they can for example, with washing themselves.”

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.Where possible people had the same group of care staff supporting them. There was some inconsistency reported to us by people but no complaints and one family member commented, “They actually like the variety.” Staff had enough travel time between care calls but there was a process in place for contacting people if care staff were unexpectedly delayed. Staff recorded the start time and finish of every call made on their mobile phone application. This was immediately accessible to managers who could then track call lengths and monitor any delays or incidents where calls needed to be longer. People were given an updated rota fortnightly showing care call times and names of the supporting staff. Staff told us that they always responded to people’s needs, making sure they were comfortable and had everything they needed. A staff member said, “Yes, we respond to people’s needs, whatever they ask for.”

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff, and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. The registered manager told us that staff wellbeing was an important part of the current and future ethos of the service, encouraging a period of stability after recent management staff changes. Regular staff meetings were now being held with staff being encouraged to speak up and raise concerns and issues. Issues relating to the frequency of staff supervision meetings had been brought to the attention of the registered manager and this was being addressed, although would take time to fully embed. Social events were laid on for staff and care staff were invited to events at other services overseen by the provider. An on-call system was in place so staff had telephone access to a manager in the event of an emergency or simply when advise was needed, at any time. Staff told us that they were looked after and that the registered manager encouraged a positive work / life balance. One staff member said, “They manage my needs, they are very encouraging, will swap schedules if needed. Clients not affected we still work to the best standards.”