Sapphire House

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 service scored 80 (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’s care plans were written in a respectful way and staff spoke with people and interacted with them in a kind and respectful manner. Staff were a calming presence and we saw genuinely caring relationships had formed between them and the people they were supporting and caring for. Staff told us how they had recently celebrated one person’s birthday and many staff had bought the person a small gift as they had no family involved. Staff were sensitive to people’s needs and always saw the person and not just their behaviour.

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 understood people’s individual needs and preferences well and care plans recorded them. People were given the opportunity to try new things and set goals. These were worked towards sensitively and at a pace the person dictated. Staff showed patience in their support of people and achievement towards goals was broken down into small steps.

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. Staff knew and understood people’s needs very well. Where people had set a particular goal or identified a new hobby, positive steps had been taken to help people succeed. People who previously had extremely regimented routines of their own making, were seen to be gradually expanding their experiences and were open to trying new things. People had been supported to take holidays where previously this had been too challenging or to try new hobbies. One person whose diet had been severely limited to one particular meal, was seen to be experimenting with different types of food and beginning to enjoy new flavours and textures and had bought themselves a muffin tin to try baking. One staff member commented, ‘Things like that make my day.’

A new kitchen was planned, and each person had been involved in deciding how to try and ensure the disruption would not impact on them negatively. Each person’s individual needs had been taken into consideration and different options adopted. The individual staffing levels enabled people to determine how they spent each day. During our onsite assessment one person went to visit the local beach, which was something they liked to do. Later in the afternoon they asked to go again, and staffing enabled this. Staff told us the person often likes to go multiple times in a day, and this has a positive impact on them. The person concerned confirmed this when we spoke with 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. Staff understood triggers for people’s poor mental health and responded with patience, skill and caring when people became distressed. Staff were trained to respond to people’s physical needs should they become unwell or have an accident requiring first aid.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff, and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. Staff found the provider supportive and told us the manager always aimed to ensure staff wellbeing was a priority, given the demands of the role. In addition, staff told us their own personal circumstances were considered with regard to shifts and training for their role. Several staff mentioned the caring culture at the service. One staff member commented, ‘It feels like a big group of friends. Like a family – warm.’