Aland Healthcare Agency

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

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 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.

People and relatives consistently described warm and respectful care. One person called their care worker “absolutely fantastic”. People said staff spoke politely, protected privacy during personal care and treated their homes with respect. Regular relationships helped people feel comfortable and understood.

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.

Care plans recorded preferred names, culture, religion, communication and what mattered to each person. The manager matched workers to language, cultural, religious or personal preferences where possible. People described conversations about their interests and said staff knew how they liked support to be given. This showed that care reflected the individual rather than a standard routine.

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

People made day-to-day choices about meals, routines and the help they wanted. Staff supported shopping, appointments and household tasks so people could remain at home. One person said, “If I ask them to do something, they will do it.” We found no evidence that the provider restricted people’s independence or control. The support enabled people to live as independently as possible in their own homes.

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 said staff listened and responded flexibly to their immediate needs. One person said care workers “talk to me nicely”. Another person described an occasion when a worker did not adapt their approach to personal care when asked. This was not consistent with the wider positive feedback.

The provider later confirmed that it had addressed the issue with the worker. Measures were also introduced to reduce the risk of this happening again.

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

Staff said the registered manager listened, explained things clearly and provided help when needed. They described supervision, training and spot checks and said they could raise concerns at any time. Staff also said the provider respected cultural and religious needs and arranged cover for important commitments. This support helped staff remain confident and available to provide person-centred care.