Choices Homecare (Rotherham North & Doncaster)

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 changed to requires improvement. This meant people did not always feel well-supported, cared for or treated with dignity and respect.

This service scored 50 (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 did not always treat people with kindness, empathy and compassion, or respect their privacy and dignity. We received mixed feedback from people about staff treating them with kindness and dignity. One person said, “A couple of them are brilliant. [Staff name] is the best one. Some males are not so good. One said I was dirty. I did not want a male carer to shower me. Another staff also does nothing, sits on their phone. They are short staffed. I put on my paperwork, I did not want male carers. They still send them.” Whilst a relative said, “Very happy with staff. They treat [name] with respect and care.” Following our assessment, the manager assured us they were gaining feedback from people, actioning concerns and commencing reviews of people’s care. Care plans contained details about people's past history, hobbies and who was important to them.

The provider did not always treat people as individuals or make sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. We received mixed feedback from people about staff treating them as individuals, due to a lack of consistent staff. People’s preferences were not clearly recorded, and staff did not always have enough information to provide care in a fully person‑centred way. This increased the risk that people’s personal preferences, including how they wished to receive personal care, were not consistently respected.

The provider did not always promote people’s independence, so people did not always know their rights and have choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. We could not be assured people's choice and independence was effectively supported due to a lack of information about people's needs and wishes in their care plans. For example, 1 person used a fall pendant to alert a falls team in the event of a fall, this information was not contained within their care plan. There was some information about what food and drink people enjoyed, however there was little information about people's religious and cultural needs, and how staff support them with this.

The provider did not always listen to and understand people’s needs, views and wishes. We received mixed feedback from people and relatives about staff responding to their needs. One person told us, “Some staff are trained to look after me. Some come in and sit on the chair and talk about what they are having for tea. One day no carers came. They missed 4 calls that day. It had snowed but not massively. They [managers] must have known as the carers have to log in and out.” Whilst another person said, “They [staff) understand my needs. They make sure I have a drink.” Daily records evidenced staff completed people's daily care tasks, such as personal care, meals and drinks.

The provider did not always care about and promote the wellbeing of their staff. They did not always support or enable staff to deliver person-centred care. Staff initiatives were in place, such as shopping discounts, well-being forums, awards schemes and birthday leave. Staff also received a newsletter which shared key events and celebrations about the service. However, we received mixed feedback from staff about feeling supported in their roles. Staff had not consistently received supervisions and appraisals. Some staff told us they felt supported, whilst others told us they did not feel listened to. A staff member said, “I am grateful for our management, they are always making time to listen to me and help me with any issue I might have. I feel that Choices is a fantastic workplace, everyone is doing their best to provide the best care and management is always approachable and transparent, and I feel more than supported and encouraged to speak up which is something I haven’t had in previous work place.” Whilst another staff member said, “Staff are quitting their jobs and our rounds are impossible to do, they don't ring and ask if you can do extras they are just put on. The staff I work with are brilliant, but they are rushing to do calls.” The management team had recognised this concern and planned to review staff call schedules.