Visiting Angels Care Also known as Visiting Angels

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 told us, “The carers are lovely. I am getting on really well with them.” And, “Yes, they are kind, they can’t do enough for me. The carer I had this morning, she talks to me all the time.” A relative told us, “They [staff] are brilliant, they [staff] can’t do enough for [loved-ones]. They [staff] speak in a very caring way.” People told us staff treated them in a dignified manner, telling us, “They [staff] close my bedroom door if they are with me. They close the blinds for my privacy.’ And, “Yes, when [staff member] cooks a meal, she will seat [loved-one’s] at the dining table, then close the door so they can have privacy whilst [staff member] washes the dishes.”

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 life histories and person-centred preferences were documented within care records. The service provided positive examples of person-centred care, including supporting a person to transition from 24-hour care into the community. The person had since experienced improved health, wellbeing and social engagement. They were supported by a consistent core staff team who knew their needs well, which helped to ensure care was delivered in a personalised and responsive way. Staff providing support to people do not wear a typical carer uniform. This initiative was explained by the director, who told us, “If you see someone with a person wearing a carers uniform, people will automatically speak to the person in the uniform and not the person themselves, which can become a barrier. Instead, we request staff wear comfortable, yet plain attire with name badges.” This reinforced the person’s voice, choices, and control over their own life.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. The service operates a ‘choose your care giver’ approach, where people’s personalities and preferences were carefully matched with staff. Staff completed an initial visit with the person to ensure compatibility and that a positive relationship could be established. Staff promoted choice in how people spent their time and ensured support was flexible so people could maintain control over their care. One person told us,“I feel in control. I recently had an appointment, so I cancelled my lunchtime visit and arranged the morning visit to be half an hour extra so I could be supported with my hair. It was no problem for them [staff].” A relative commented, “Me and [loved-one] have control of the care that is provided. We can both make requests and suggestions. The company are responsive if we suggest or request something.”

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 responded promptly when people’s needs changed and took action to keep people safe. Records showed staff contacted health professionals quickly when people became unwell and followed advice to provide immediate support. One care professional told us, “They [service] got in touch straight away to request an assessment as soon as they noticed a decline in [person’s] health.” People told us their visits were mostly at the times they had requested. One person commented, “The visits are when I asked them to be, I have no complaints about timing of my visits.” People told us there were occasions when care staff stayed with them during times of distress and ensured their needs were responded to promptly. Some people told us they had some level of difficulty getting through to the service’s out of hours number. However, the service was looking at ways of strengthening their on-call system.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. The service demonstrated a strong ethos centred on staff wellbeing, which leaders told us was key to delivering effective and high-quality care. They spoke positively about the value they place on their staff and described a range of initiatives in place to support them. These included regular pay increases, payment for travel time and contributions towards vehicle costs. The service had also engaged with a clinical psychologist to better understand the impact of the care role on staff wellbeing. As a result, a staff wellbeing programme was introduced, which included access to confidential counselling services. In addition, the service organised an annual local music festival to celebrate both paid and unpaid carers. This event was well regarded, with positive feedback from people, relatives and carers, who told us they felt valued and appreciated. Staff feedback was mainly positive, with a staff member telling us, “Overall, I think it’s great working here we have lots of benefits. Whenever I need anything, I call [leaders] and they help me straight away, I never have to ask twice.” However, some staff told us they did not always feel valued or supported in their roles. This feedback was shared with leaders, who acknowledged the concerns and advised further individualised measures of support and recognition would be introduced.