Callquest For Care

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 70 (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.

Feedback about staff was consistently described as positive and caring, with staff treating people with warmth and respect. A person told us, “Very good they are!” and “We get along well.”

Feedback from people, relatives and staff confirmed staff interacted with people in a friendly and respectful way. A relative said, “Staff are chatty with [person] and ask how they are.” Staff engaged in conversation and built rapport based on shared interests such as gardening and current affairs.

Care records showed staff sought consent before delivering care and supported people in a respectful manner, helping to maintain privacy and dignity.

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 demonstrated a good understanding of people’s routines and preferences through their day-to-day interactions. Staff used conversation and knowledge of people’s interests, such as television and hobbies, to build relationships and provide personalised support. Staff adapted care to suit people’s wishes, with 1 person stating, “[Staff] always do what I ask” and “We have nice conversation."

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

Staff encouraged people to make decisions, supporting people to have choice and control over their daily lives. For example, offering choices of clothing and meals. Staff respected people’s choices, including how they wished to receive care.

Staff also encouraged people to remain as independent as possible, such as and supporting people to complete tasks themselves where they could. A staff member described encouraging a person by saying, “You can do it, you are doing it, you are getting there.” This demonstrates a promotive approach to independence. A person told us they managed aspects of their own care, including their medicines, and remained active in the community, showing that independence was supported.

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.

Despite some feedback that people’s care calls did not always last the full duration, people told us staff were generally responsive and flexible. For example, they fed back staff let them know if they would be late and adjusted call times to support medical appointments or social plans.

People and relatives told us that staff were observant and raised concerns with people’s care. A staff member said, “There are times when [person] is not in a good mood, I know what to chat with [them about] to get [them] to come out [of the low mood]. I…make [person] smile and [person] brings that out in me. The relationship is perfect.” Staff also gave examples of contacting healthcare professionals to seek guidance and support to ensure they were able to meet people’s needs.

We found that not all care records contained detailed information about people’s current care needs and how staff should monitor and mitigate risks and deliver care in a personalised way. The registered manager began to update people’s records following the assessment feedback to provide more detail in these areas. This was necessary to ensure any new staff or agency staff would be able to deliver people’s care safely and effectively.

The provider did not always promote the wellbeing of their staff. They did not always support or enable staff to deliver person-centred care.

There were clear gaps in training and formal support. Staff had not completed essential training such as safeguarding, and learning was sometimes reliant on informal sources rather than structured programmes. Records showed training and supervision processes were not fully established, with key training only arranged following the assessment.

Despite these findings, staff described a positive relationship with the registered manager. They stated they felt supported on a personal level saying, “The manager always asks if I am okay… and supports me.” Staff described support from informal processes. For example, “Since we work in the morning together, we always discuss what is happening in the care sector and what should be done.” Despite this the recent staff survey results also indicated mixed awareness of training, safeguarding processes and reporting mechanisms. These gaps meant staff were not always fully equipped with the knowledge and support needed to consistently deliver safe and effective care, although the provider had begun to take action to address this.