Northwest Domiciliary Agency

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 85 (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.

We observed staff treating people with kindness and compassion during the assessment. All people said that staff were fantastic at the care they provided and were very happy with how they were treated on a daily basis. One person said, “Staff are amazing, they are always smiling and happy.” Staff could describe ways they protected people’s privacy and dignity, for example during care tasks.

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 considered people’s individual needs and preferences throughout their work and had access to relevant information about people’s personal, cultural, social and religious needs. People chose how to decorate their home, and all rooms were maintained to a high standard. People’s bedrooms were decorated according to their preference and contained personalised items such as important photographs. Staff wrote care notes in a person-centred way.

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

People had real choice over their care and support and were involved in interviews and selection of staff. Staff supported people to consider employment, volunteering and learning opportunities and 1 person recently commenced training to be able to deliver the Oliver McGowan learning package to others. People and staff regularly held empowerment meetings and there was a section dedicated to exploring ways to promote people’s independence and strengths. People undertook tasks independently where they felt confident and safe to do. For example, 1 person visited her Catholic Church independently which meant they could practise their faith, something was which very important to be able to do.

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.

People said staff understood them, and their likes and dislikes very well, and felt listened to. Staff could recognise when people were feeling anxious or upset and took steps to support people effectively during these periods.

The provider always cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and was exceptional at supporting and enabling staff to always deliver person-centred care.

Several initiatives supported the wellbeing of staff, and the provider appointed a wellbeing lead to promote these. For example, the establishment of a neurodiversity group to support staff who this was relevant to. Staff had wellness actions plans, which reflected what helped them to have a good day at work. Staff could access employee assist programmes and counselling sessions. The provider had a voucher scheme which meant a member of staff could purchase essential items for their loved one. Other schemes included support for ‘cycle to work’ and menopause.