Onecall24 Healthcare Limited

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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 service involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. At our last inspection we rated this key question good. At this inspection the rating has remained good. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

People were involved in planning the care and support they received. Staff encouraged people to maintain their independence and people were supported to make their own choices and decisions. People had control over their lives, including their care and support. The service supported people to understand their rights by using different languages and individual communication techniques.

We not assess all the quality statements within this key question. We did not identify concerns relating to those areas which we judged as being met at our last inspection.

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.

We did not look at Kindness, compassion and dignity during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

We did not look at Treating people as individuals during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

People or their representatives told us they were supported to enhance and maintain their independence and felt empowered to make their own choices and live their life the way they wanted. A person’s representative told us that staff always supported the person to make their own choices, such as what perfume to wear and what they wanted to eat and drink. Another person said, “[Staff] are all really good. [Name] likes to be independent.”

People or their representatives also told us that staff used different methods of communication to make sure they supported people appropriately and understood their individual needs and wishes. A person’s representative told us, “Everybody is brilliant. They have had to learn with [name], as [name] uses a letterboard.”

The staff and management team understood the importance of supporting people to retain their independence and involving them in decision-making. They also helped people to avoid social isolation by signposting them to activities and organisations within the local community, in order to maintain and promote relationships and networks.

Staff gave us examples of how they supported people to maintain their independence when meeting their care needs. A member of staff told us, “I step in when they need a bit more. I repeat what [name] says to me, and I ask how they want things to be done. [Name] is now taking more control of the care they receive.”

Staff also explained how they used different methods of communication that were specific to each person. For example, a member of staff told us, “[Name] is non-verbal, but they are good at signing and we understand them.”

Another member of staff told us, “[Name] is very good at letting us know what they want. We do some Makaton. [Name] has their own ‘language’ and uses an iPad. [Name] has lots of mantras they go through, and we repeat back what we think they want. [Name] is mostly happy; laughing and smiling, but if they start to get anxious or upset, they will be quiet and bite back of their hand. I will ask what [Name] is feeling today – i.e. Has [Name] got pain etc.”

The service had effective care planning systems and processes in place, which helped enable people to make choices and decisions and have control over their lives, including their care and support. The service supported people to understand their rights by using different languages and individual communication techniques whenever needed. Staff ensured people were able to access and maintain important relationships and networks, such as friends and family, as well as the wider community. The service also supported people to obtain and use various equipment that could help enhance their independence.

We did not look at Responding to people’s immediate needs during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

Most of the staff we spoke with or received feedback from said they felt valued and believed the management team cared about their personal wellbeing, as well as their professional development. Staff told us they had regular opportunities to provide feedback, raise concerns and suggest ways to improve the service.

A member of staff told us, “I love the working conditions. They care for their service users and employees in so many ways. So caring.” Another said they would recommend the company as a place to work and added, “I think this one is very proactive and eager for us to train. They also support me, as I look after my [relative] who is disabled.”

A further member of staff stated, “Having previously worked for a company who were more focused on budgets and didn’t particularly treat their staff well, it has been refreshing to actually work for a company who care about their staff and clients. I really enjoy working for OneCall24 Healthcare.”

Some staff told us they felt communication could be improved and they would benefit from more support from the managers of their care packages. We spoke with the management team about this, and they provided evidence to demonstrate how they were already implementing changes, to make sure communication and support was more effective for all staff members.

The provider had effective systems and processes to make sure staff’s health, safety and wellbeing was promoted. The management team was well structured, and they followed effective processes to help make sure staff felt valued and included in all aspects of the service.