Walfinch Hampstead & Camden

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 service 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 treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy anddignity. Relatives told us staff were kind, respectful and caring. They said that staff treated people withdignity and were respectful whilst in people’s homes. A relative said, “[Care staff] are so good with [myfamily member]. They are comfortable with carers and feels safe with them. They are very caring.” Anotherrelative said, “I cannot speak highly enough about the staff team.”

Management and care staff had a good knowledge of people’s needs and spoke about them with warmthand familiarity.People were familiar with care staff that supported them and felt comfortable in their presence. Peoplereceived care from a consistent regular team of care staff that they were familiar with. A relative said, “[Myfamily member] is familiar with care staff. Having different staff could be destructive and cause anxiety for[my family member] so it was really important to have consistency and the agency does this.”

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 staff understood people’s needs and provided care in a way which was personalised to them. A relative told us, “Staff are able to meet [my family member’s] needs. This goes back to the initial assessment. [The registered manager] didn’t rush to find a carer for [my family member]. [The registered manager] took time to look for the most suitable person. This has really made a difference.”

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.

People’s cultural and religious needs were assessed, documented and met.

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

Staff supported people to remain as independent as they wished. For example, a person was supported to get involved with a local theatre community writing project. Staff spent time getting to know this person, building trust and then encouraged this person to go out into the local community.

Staff had a good knowledge of people’s individual needs and preferences. They told us about how they respected the choices people made about their care and ensure their approach reflected this. People’s independence levels were recorded in their care plans, so staff knew where they needed assistance. This helped ensure staff had the information they needed to help meet people's needs.

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.

Staff had a good knowledge of recognising when people’s needs changed and understood their responsibilities in reporting concerns to senior staff.

Daily care records were reviewed by management to check that staff provided care in a person-centred way and to help recognise people’s changing needs.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. Staff we spoke with told us they felt supported and valued by their colleagues and management. They said they felt happy and safe at work. A member of staff told us, “I feel very happy working here. It is a good team. I feel well supported – absolutely.” Another member of staff said, “We are a small team but management have made a real effort to ensure we all are involved and built a nice team.”

Management had an open-door policy. Staff were encouraged to speak up and raise concerns openly. A member of staff told us, “I feel able to raise issues with management and they always make themselves available.”