The Summers

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• 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.

Staff treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. Language used both towards people and in their care records was appropriate and respectful. People and their relatives told us, “The carers are always respectful, care and commitment to [person] is good” and “I think I’ve been very well looked after. I have no problems with any of the care.” We observed kind and positive interactions between care staff and people. Care staff told us, “'I enjoy my job, it is a way of giving back. I am always happy because of the residents.”A healthcare professional told us, ‘When I was in the home I certainly witnessed the staff interacting with residents with kindness, compassion 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. Relatives told us, “I’m very happy with the care and I know [person] is happy with the care they get. There is a bond between [person] and the carers,” and “Staff definitely treat [person] as an individual, they talk to [person] in ways that they can understand.” Staff we spoke with were able to share with us details of people’s life histories and interests, “The main thing is the interests of the residents. It is important to discover what they want, not just what is in the care plan. At times you will discover new things about them just by chatting to them.”

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. Records we reviewed contained information about how staff should promote and support people’s independence. This included their preferred way of communicating as well as their physical and health needs. One person told us,” I can go to bed and get up at a time I like. They support me to do things that I want to do too.” People told us they had the opportunity to engage in activities, “Activities are really good. There is something to do every day. We use the garden when the weather is warmer.” People spoke positively of the food and told us, “The food is very good here. There’s always a choice and plenty to eat,” and “On the whole, the food is good. There are dishes that I don’t like but that’s me. There are choices and plenty to drink.” A healthcare professional told us, ‘I witnessed a mealtime where residents were being attended to and individual dietary needs were taken into consideration.’

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. We saw staff responded to people who were in distress and pre-empted situations which may cause people to become anxious or upset. Staff were available to support people’s planned care, as well as respond if people needed them. Some people told us there were times when they waited for a staff to respond to their call bell, “Staff are lovely and friendly but my call bell is not always answered quickly though,” and “It can be ages before anybody comes to answer my bell.” However, we reviewed monthly call bell audits and found no significant delayed response times or emerging patterns. Where delayed responses were noted, actions were taken to address this. Response times and any patterns of behaviour were discussed in handovers, for example, and where a person frequently rang their bell, staff were advised to offer them frequent reassurance in their bedroom until they settled for the night.

We did not look at Workforce wellbeing and enablement during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.