Ambito Community Services East Midlands

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.

This is the first assessment for this service. This key question has been rated 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 provider treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity.

People and their relatives told us that staff were kind and caring. A relative said, “The staff are amazing, caring and their main focus is my relative.”

Staff used creative approaches such as singing, counting games, sensory activities and tailored communication. Staff told us they ensured privacy when providing personal care, especially when supporting people out in the community.

Professionals consistently described staff as caring, enthusiastic and attentive. Staff engagement in therapy sessions and their relationships with people were highlighted as strengths.

Staff had completed training on privacy and respect and policies were in place to provide guidance on treating people with dignity and ensuring privacy was protected. Support plans also emphasised the importance of dignity when providing care and treatment.

The provider treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met their needs and preferences. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

People’s individuality and preferences were respected. Staff knew people well. People were supported to practice their religion if they wished to. Support plans were detailed and reflected people’s personalities and unique needs and characteristics.

Staff described their approach as highly person‑centred. They explained how they used individualised communication tools, such as Makaton, objects of reference and eye‑pointing to understand people’s wishes. Staff told us they promoted dignity and independence in all aspects of care and ensured people’s preferences shaped the support they received. They described developing warm, trusting relationships with the people they supported. Staff had completed person-centred training.

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

People were supported to make choices and retain independence.

Families described meaningful activities including bowling, shopping, library visits, community outings, and visits to sensory parks. One said, “They increase my relative’s quality of life by getting out and about.”

Staff gave multiple examples of how they supported people to enjoy meaningful activities, including cinema trips, community events, walks, church services and sensory experiences. They spoke about helping people develop new skills or build confidence, such as supporting someone with desensitisation work or helping another person attend social groups. Staff told us they found these outcomes rewarding and felt they made a positive difference.

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.

Detailed support plans were in place to provide guidance for staff on how to respond promptly and effectively to people in distress.

A family member said, “They adjusted hours because my relative’s anxiety was too high.”

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to deliver person-centred care.

Staff told us they had good relationships with management and that staff worked well together. Staff said supervision was helpful, although one staff member felt it could be more consistent. Staff felt the service was well organised, person‑centred and committed to continuous improvement, and several said they would recommend it to others as a positive place to work.

The registered manager explained that rotas were planned to ensure staff wellbeing was supported. Supervisions and team meetings provided opportunities for staff to raise any wellbeing concerns and examples were seen of management responding positively to comments. A range of employee benefits were available to staff including medical and emotional support.