Aims Homecare Limited - Leatherhead

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. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

People and their relatives spoke positively about the staff. Comments included, “They are kind and have my [family member’s] best interests at heart” and “All carers have shown kindness and respect.”

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.

There was limited information about people’s backgrounds, likes, dislikes and interests in people’s care plans. This was also supported by feedback from 1 relative who commented that the person assessing a family member did not ask questions around likes and interests. However, despite this people said staff knew them well. The manager commented, “We match care workers to clients wherever we can on personality, language, gender preference and cultural background, and we protect continuity in the rota. Nobody should have to explain themselves to a stranger every week.”

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 care plans contained information about what people could do for themselves to promote independence. This included prompts to guide staff to give people time to support these. Staff told us they supported people’s independence. Comments included, “We encourage people to do as much as they can independently, such as personal care and daily activities, while providing support when needed.” The manager also said they encouraged staff to focus on enabling people rather than doing things for them.

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 arrived on time which meant people’s needs could be met effectively. The manager said they had a protocol for missed visits, to ensure people’s needs could be met. They commented, “If a [staff member] does not log in, the system flags the care system, we contact them, and if we cannot cover the call, we contact the client, the family with consent and the local authority.” Staff told us there were enough staff to meet people’s needs.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff, and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. Staff spoke positively about how they were supported. Comments included, “I have always been supported and helped when I needed it” and “I feel supported through regular communication, supervision, training, and guidance from the management team.” The manager told us they promoted staff wellbeing by regular supervisions, paying travel times between calls, encouraging staff to take their annual leave and operating an open door policy.