Hartley Locums

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. People told us they liked the care staff who cared for them. Relatives said their family members were treated with consideration and had built good relationships with both care and leadership staff. One relative explained about the approach taken by staff and said, “They [staff] are excellent. Staff are great and staff really care. This is so important for [person’s name] care.” Another relative told us, “They [staff] get the staff rotated, so [person’s name] gets to know all of their faces, it works for [person’s name]. They are just so happy when they come.“ A further relative said, “[Staff] are all just really friendly and caring and engage with [person’s name].” Staff gave examples showing how they promoted people’s dignity when providing care. One staff member said, “You close doors and blinds and curtains before personal care, and cover up areas which don’t need to be exposed.”

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. Relative said staff knew what was important to their family members. One relative told us, “[Senior staff] are always very nice about making sure new [staff] know what [person’s name] care is.” Another relative told us they knew staff treated their family member as an individual because staff always checked what they wanted. The relative said, “[Person’s name] will tell them what they want and [staff] listen, and respect if they say ‘No’. Relatives said their family members looked forward to staff providing care because staff spent time chatting to people about what mattered to them. Relatives highlighted staff had a positive approach when caring for people. Staff had opportunities to find out what was important to individual people before providing care to them. One staff member said, “You can just look at the care plan and you chat and you talk with the [person] and family.” Staff gave examples showing how they used this information when caring for people, so their unique needs would be met.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. People told us staff encouraged them to do as much as possible themselves so they would maintain their independence. One person told us staff were good at balancing their right to independence with their immediate support needs. The person said, “They [staff] do respect I can clean my teeth and things, and if I asked they would let me do more.” A relative told us Hartley House staff had helped their family member by working with them to regain as much mobility and independence as possible. The relative said their family member had lacked confidence to try to do this themselves. The relative told us staff had reassured their family member and said, “Hartley [House] were brilliant and made them comfortable to try.” Another relative told us about the opportunities provided by Hartley House to do interesting things in the community. The relative said, “[Person’s name] goes to the lunch time club once a week. It’s really helpful for social activities. [Person’s name] comes home engaged.” Other relatives told us staff spend time during care calls doing things people enjoyed with them. For example, completing adult colouring books with them, and chatting. Staff gave examples showing how they promoted people’s independence, taking their protected characteristics, such as their disability support needs into account.

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. Relatives gave examples showing how staff had adapted people’s planned care so their immediate needs would be met. For example, extra staff had been promptly provided when people’s care needs had suddenly changed and additional care calls had been put in place to provide short-term extra support people wanted. One relative said, “[Staff] identified [person’s name] needed extra help for personal care. Staff instantly responded to from that day.” Another relative said, “If there are any changes in health they are quick to respond, it reduces [our] stress because they are so reliable.” A further relative explained they were their family member’s main carer, but had been temporarily unable to provide support. The relative said, “It’s an exceptionally good service, they recently sent in [staff] to care in my absence at short notice. I was immediately assured [staff] would do what they could.” The relative said because additional care was arranged so quickly, “[Person’s name] was happy and safe.” Staff said they were supported by senior staff to change people’s care plans on a longer-term basis when people wanted this. One staff member said, “[Senior staff] take action and I see there is a change because of my suggestions for my clients, so they get the care they need.”

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff, and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. Staff told us they were supported to provide compassionate care to people because their own needs were met. Staff said they were treated positively and with consideration. One staff member said, “[Senor staff] are fair to me, they are good and accommodating and flexible in terms of shift requests, and are approachable. I can get hold of them when needed, so I feel valued.” Other staff told us about their work patterns, training, employment benefits and workloads and said this supported their well-being. One staff member said because of support from senior staff, “I don’t feel tired and I can ask for a [salary] advance if I need one, and [senior staff] are nice and kind.” A relative told us their family member had required a period of intensive care. The relative said senior staff had supported their family member’s regular care staff. The relative told us the registered manager had sent out an additional staff member to support their regular care staff, so regular care staff would be supported.