Blakewater Homecare Services Ltd

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 was the first assessment of this service. This key question has been rated good. This meant people feel well-supported, cared for and treated with dignity and respect.

This service scored 85 (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 told us staff communicated with them well and in ways that were appropriate to them. One person’s care plan explained how staff should speak clearly and use short sentences, and to give time for them to respond. Staff were keen to ensure people were treated with respect and dignity and their well being was of paramount importance to them. People told us staff knew them really well and were kind and respectful. One relative said, “They [staff] communicate really well. They engage [family member] in conversation about their favourite subject; sport, even if they don’t know anything about sport. They [staff] really understand [family member] as a person. They even buy [family member] gifts on their birthday, they treat [family member] well and make [family member] feel special.”

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. Staff understood people’s individual needs and preferences. Staff treated people as individuals ensuring they considered any protected characteristics.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. The provider was keen to ensure packages of care and support were tailor made to include people’s needs, choices and preferences. Staff explained how they supported people, offering choice and ensuring their wishes were adhered to. One staff member said, “All our service users have become our friends, they are like family to us. But this does not mean we take them for granted. Anything we do we ask and check out their consent first; that is so important.” People and relatives told us staff went out of their way to help people socialise in the community. One relative said, “Some of the carers go out of their way to take [family member] out for lunch, or breakfast, in their own time, to give [family member] that chance to get out of the house without his family. They go the extra mile.”

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. Care documents evidence that staff took action to respond to people. Staff told us the management team were contactable at all times and responded quickly if they raised concerns about people’s welfare.

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 told us staff morale was excellent and that had positively impacted on people using the service. The staff team were motivated and enthusiastic and were led by a very passionate registered manager who ensured best practice was followed and realistic outcomes were achieved. Flexible working programmes and good terms and conditions of employment supported staff, and they felt highly valued. Staff likened working for the provider to working for family.