Blue River Home Care Waltham Abbey Also known as Blue River Home Care Greater London

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 treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. A person told us, “I would say yes they do genuinely care about me just by the way they treat me. They always treat me with respect.” Another person said, “They are very caring and kind towards me. Sometimes the manager will ring regarding my care and to see how things are going along.” A relative told us, “Yes, they are very kind and caring and go out of their way to help [relative]. I cannot fault them at all.” A care worker explained, “I always speak with [service user] for at least 5 minutes and have a chat first before personal care. They’re human. They have to have dignity.”

The provider treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. Care workers demonstrated how well they knew people. Although care plans were not always consistently up to date staff had a good understanding of the people they supported and this was clearly demonstrated during the inspection. One care worker told us, “I have had the same client for years. I know [their] interests.” Another care worker told us, “I know the people I look after well. I am working with the same clients for years.” The registered manager explained, “Every birthday we visit and give service users cards. Every single carer writes a card.”

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. A relative told us, “One of [their] main carers is just excellent and encourages [them] all the time to do little things for [themselves].”

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 how people communicated, how they showed any signs of pain and any anxieties, so they could respond appropriately to provide people with comfort and reassurance. A care worker told us, “I know [service user] was feeling a bit low, I bought [them] flowers recently and some stress balls.” During the assessment, the registered manager received a call from a care worker reporting concerns about a service user’s wellbeing and the actions taken.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. One care worker told us, “[Registered manager’s] strongest point is communication and just supporting us. She will always follow up with me and call me. I had a rough day last week [at work], she called me at 4pm after my shift was over and asked how I was.”