The Business Centre

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 changed to requires improvement.

This service scored 60 (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 treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. People and relatives were positive about the caring nature of the staff team. Their comments included, “I’m more than happy with the carers. They’re 1st class. When they come in they are always courteous, nothing is too much trouble for them, they always put a smile on a face”. The staff team spoke fondly of people they cared for and shared where they felt they had made a difference to people’s lives. For example, where 1 person could become anxious, staff shared how they recognised this and how best to support them.

People told us they were treated well by care staff, and most said staff knew them well. Although not all people felt call times were suitable and sometimes care felt as though it could be rushed. One person told us, “Sometimes if they are late some of them rush me, I try to do as much as I can”. A relative told us their scheduled call arrives too early in the evening which also seems rushed. They told us they had shared this with the provider.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. People’s choices and preferences were documented in their care plans. However, this was not always consistent with care being delivered. For example, 1 person’s care plan specified they needed to have support delivered consistently due to their diagnosis, and to ensure independence was promoted with personal care. The daily notes evidenced some staff were offering verbal prompts, whilst other staff were completing the person’s personal care for them. This had not been identified through the management’s internal processes despite being reviewed. This meant, the provider was not always following the Right support, right care, right culture” guidance in relation to how to support people with a learning disability. Staff had received the relevant training to support people with a learning disability and Autistic people, but this was not always followed by staff and opportunities to promote independence were missed.

We received mixed reviews regarding the provider listening to and understanding people’s needs, views and wishes. Some people told us they had requested a change of staff and this had been accommodated. Other people and relatives told us they had new care staff arrive at their home with no prior communication from the management team and needed to raise this with the registered manager. One relative told us staff had failed to identify when their loved one became unwell and did not seek medical help, which placed them at risk of harm. Where people had required additional support due to their relatives not being well or taking holidays, provisions had been made to support people. However, not all care plans demonstrated the change in their support needs. Staff told us in the event of an emergency they would stay with the person until they either received medical help or a family member was present.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff. All staff told us they felt supported by the management team and were happy in their roles. Staff told us they respected management had supported them in the community when they had been short staffed. One staff member told us, “Management will also cover shifts and drive carers around, and at weekends. They all muck in”. The provider had processes in place to support staff, these included staff meetings and supervisions.