Comforting Healthcare

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 service always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. Management and care staff had a good knowledge of people’s needs and spoke about them with warmth and familiarity. People were familiar with care staff that supported them and felt comfortable in their presence. People received care from a consistent, regular team of care staff that they were familiar with. A staff member said, “I always ask what they would like to do, I know what [person] likes as I’ve been working with them for a long time. But I always ask in case [person] changes their mind.”

People and relatives told us staff were kind, respectful and caring. They said that staff treated people with dignity and were respectful whilst in people’s homes. Comments included, “Staff are definitely kind and [person] knows me well and we can talk and get on well" and “Yes they are very nice.”

The service 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 care plans offered guidance to staff about people’s life histories and preferences. People’s cultural and religious needs were assessed, documented and met. This meant staff could discuss with people their interests and identity, in a broader capacity than their required care needs.

Staff had a good knowledge of people’s individual preferences and routines. They understood the importance of adapting their approach when supporting different people. This helped to ensure the care they provided was tailored to the individual they were supporting.

The service 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 maintain as much independence as possible. For example, some individuals managed their own medication, others were able to wash themselves with minimal assistance, and some remained independent by using equipment to support their mobility. People were always offered choices. A staff member said, “I always give people a choice, we are there to support them.”

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. Most people told us staff would listen to them and what they needed.One relative said, “I speak with them; [person] had a visit from the manager to check if everything in care plan was accurate a few weeks ago.” A person said, “They [registered manager] listen to me, they are lovely."

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care.Staff were positive about the registered manager. Comments from staff included, “Yes, you can speak with the manager about anything. I have no concerns” and “There has always been someone there and there is a number to call for out of hours.” All staff we spoke with told us the registered manager was supportive.