My Pillar Limited

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 ensured people were always treated with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. People’s feedback about staff was positive and they described being treated with respect by kind and caring staff. A person told us, “I am very sure of what I need and together with the staff we meet my needs. I have good and bad times and so we have to adapt.” A relative told us, “The staff are kind and caring and treat [person’s name] with respect. They understand how to change focus for those with Dementia and do their best to undertake the tasks like personal care. They respect [person’s name] wishes and do their best maintain their dignity.” Staff spoke about people with confidence, describing their needs and demonstrated a good knowledge of how to support people. The registered manager told us they were confident staff were kind and caring as they sought peoples feedback during an audit process where they carried out spot checks during calls and also sought feedback using anonymous surveys, all of which supported people felt staff were caring. Records we saw supported this.

The provider treated people as individuals and made sure that their care, support, and treatment met their needs and preferences. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics. People were supported as individuals by staff who recognised their individual needs and preferences. A person told us, “I go to church, so the staff always arrive and get me ready on time.” A relative told us, “When [person’s name] is showering in the bathroom they leave them to do what they can but listen out just in case. The staff monitor changing clothes and prompt [person’s name] to change clothes in a respectful way.” Staff were able to describe how they supported people as individuals. They gave examples of how people liked to have their care provided and demonstrated a good knowledge of individual needs and preferences, including how to communicate with people. One staff member told us, “[Person’s name] has difficulty communicating and we use different techniques and consider how we do this ensuring we work within the positive behaviour support plan.” Peoples care plans had information included about their individual needs and preferences including about their protected characteristics.

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 to maintain their independence. A person told us, “I do manage to go out sometimes with help. The staff come with me when needed for example to go shopping.” A relative told us, “The staff help [person’s name] make choices they have supported them to find a voluntary job a couple of afternoons a week which [person’s name] is over the moon about. The staff also take them out shopping, to the hairdressers, social events they like to attend. The support they get enables them to have quite a lot of control over their life.” Staff told us they supported people to have control over their lives. A staff member said, “[Person’s name] can make all their own decisions and tells us what they want.” The registered manager told us they had individual assessments in place, including how people can make decisions and choices and communicate their preferences. Care plans included information about helping people to make choices, decisions and retain their independence. For example, we saw care plans included references to everyday activities and what people were able to do for themselves including shopping independently, money management. We saw care plans focussed on people sustaining skills such as doing their own laundry with prompts and guided staff on the support people needed.

The provider had systems in place to enable them to respond to people’s needs and address any concerns. People had their needs responded to. A relative told us, “The staff are responding quickly to any changes required for [person’s name].” The registered manager told us they were able to respond to calls for additional support from people and gave the example when people were unwell, they may need additional support temporarily which is provided or when they need to go somewhere a call times may need to be adjusted. Staff told us they were able to respond to individual needs during calls and provide the support people needed.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to consistently deliver person-centred care. The registered manager told us they had systems in place to support staff and check on their wellbeing including individual meetings with staff and regular team meetings where support required could be discussed. Staff confirmed they felt supported by the registered manager. A staff member told us, “We have regular town hall meetings on Zoom, it can be difficult to get everyone together at once. We can get support through regular communication with the registered manager.” Records we saw supported what we were told.