Ashchurch View

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 were always treated with dignity in their day-to-day care and support. During the inspection, we observed warm and positive interactions between staff and people living at the service. Staff told us there was a culture of kindness within the staff team. Staff told us, “We have a culture of being able to sit with people and spend time with people, but I think we would benefit from having more volunteers.”

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.

People’s personal, cultural, social and religious needs were understood and met. Staff and leaders explained how protected characteristics were considered for people supported at the service. Staff told us, “Activities are tailored to people’s interests, and we do different celebration days for different people’s cultures.” The registered manager told us, “We have a diverse range of staff members, which come from different diverse backgrounds who support the service.”

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 relationships and networks which were important to them. People told us they felt they were supported to have choice and control over their own care and support. One relative told us, “They let us put 3 tomato plants in pots outside her room and the gardener has been brilliant and will water them for her when she can’t. For her room we brought pictures, they put them up where she wanted and she brought a nest of tables from home.”

The service 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.

The provider had systems and processes which supported them to deliver a person-centred service to service users. For example, the provider had delivered specific training for staff to understand in a real sense how people may experience poor outcomes if their mealtimes were interrupted. They took into consideration whether people wanted to have visitors during their mealtimes. For example, we observed a staff member ensured a person who was at risk of malnutrition was supported to choose whether or not to be interrupted by an external professional who arrived during the lunch time service on the first day of the inspection. In all areas staff were seen and heard chatting with service users as they ensured people were at the forefront of their care.

During lunchtime in another community there were many indications staff enjoyed their work and being with service users. This included little jokes, songs and a playful approach when appropriate. When 1 person with dementia returned to the dining room after leaving for a walk, staff greeted them with the comment “[person] come and join us, you’ve timed that well. Couldn’t have timed it better.” The service user then sat down and waited calmly for their food.

Some downstairs rooms opened onto the external garden or the internal courtyard garden. Both were well maintained and safe for gentle exercising and fresh air. Upstairs there was a carefully designed dementia friendly veranda offering the sensory experience of the outdoors and leading the eye to the green landscape beyond for those who couldn’t get outside easily. This demonstrated the provider had ensured the building was designed to enhance people’s daily living experience.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care.

Staff were supported if they were struggling at work. This had a positive impact on the care they delivered to people. People were supported by staff who felt valued by their leaders and colleagues.