Helping Hands Liverpool

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 improved to outstanding. This meant people were truly respected and valued as individuals; and empowered as partners in their care in an exceptional service.

This service scored 90 (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 was exceptional at treating people with kindness, empathy and compassion and in how they respected people’s privacy and dignity. Staff always treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. People received exceptionally kind, compassionate, and person-centred care from staff who consistently treated them with dignity and respect. The service demonstrated a deeply embedded culture of empathy, responsiveness, and emotional support, which was evident in both routine care and crisis situations. For example, 1 person was supported through a crisis safely, as they were a victim of a crime. The staff at Helping Hands, approached the situation with empathy and professionalism, ensuring they kept the person calm and well supported while at their most vulnerable, while alerting the authorities and family. Professional support was offered to the staff member following this incident as part of a robust and supportive debrief. The person’s relative described the support as ‘reassuring and dignified.’

Other people and their relatives also described the staff as caring kind. Addition comments included “The are fabulous, they know [person] so well.” Also “The staff are exceptionally kind, they take time to listen.”

Staff consistently spoke with pride and compassion regarding their roles and the peoples they support. A staff told us visiting the people the people they support was the best part of their job. One staff member said “Walking in and knowing I can make them smile just completely makes my day. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

The provider treated people as individuals and was exceptional in how they made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. The provider took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics. The service also demonstrated outstanding responsiveness to people’s emotional needs. This involved coming with truly bespoke support to enable a person to manage their emotions and anxieties. This support continued for the person even after they transferred to another branch, as the staff recognised the need for reassurance to be maintained. The person said “I’m much better than I was. The team at Liverpool specifically [staff name] are lovely.”

People were continuously treated with respect and empathy. Helping Hands worked in partnership with people to ensure they could achieve their goals. One person was supported on a family holiday they did not think would happen. The provider did this by matching then with appropriate care staff who had things in common with the person. The provider was able to demonstrate the deep joy this brought, not just for the person themselves, but also their family. The success of this trip enabled them to pursue other holidays. As well as the person being able to reconnect with their family, they also found new confidence to help them book further holidays, with the help of their staff member, giving them their independence.

A healthcare professional also told us they liked working alongside Helping Hands. Their comments included, “I do wish that all care companies were as easy to deal with.”

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. Care plans reflected people’s wishes and personal goals. For example, 1 person expressed a desire to regain independence to resume gardening and other hobbies. Staff supported this by engaging them in conversation about their interests and helped them start this again. Another person valued staying independent and spending time with their children.

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. There were processes in place for staff to follow during each person’s care call to ensure they were meeting people’s needs. Staff attended people’s care calls on time, including where people received time critical medicines. There was an out of hours system in place.

The provider always cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff, and was exceptional at supporting and enabling staff to always deliver person-centred care. Staff consistently told us they felt valued, respected, and empowered in their roles. One staff member said, “I love it, good company, amazing managers, rotas are good, and training is fantastic. I feel supported and confident in my role”.

A particularly powerful example of this was the support provided to a staff member, who was going through difficult personal circumstances. The level of support they received truly empowered their wellbeing. The staff member said “I am happy to be part of the team and proud to be who I am”. The provider went out of their way to gain real insight in order to make the staff member feel truly valued. This highlights how the provider studied the issues the staff member was dealing with in order to provide the most impactful, kind and caring support. They went out of their way to gain real insight in order to make the staff member feel truly valued.