Aalia Health Care Limited

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. 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 service always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. We observed staff responding compassionately to people, and people were treated with kindness and respect. For example, staff took every opportunity to say hello to people when they were passing or give them a gentle touch and a smile. Relatives’ comments included, “[Person] is treated with respect, it’s lovely to see”, “The staff are totally caring”, “[Person] is shown respect and their privacy is respected”, “They (staff) always knock on the door when we are visiting” and “Staff are very caring. [Person] always has a smile on their face when I visit and towards the staff assisting [person].”

The service 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. People’s care plans contained information about people’s backgrounds, and social and cultural needs. The service used this information to deliver care which was personalised and unique to the person. People’s daily notes recorded how staff supported people in the way in which they wished to be supported. Relatives’ comments included, “I think that the staff are equipped to look after [person], they know her likes and dislikes” and “[Person] likes their food but is choosy. They (staff) would always accommodate her if they didn’t like what was on the menu.”

The service promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. People’s independence was celebrated and encouraged. Relatives confirmed this. One relative told us, “[Person] is quite independent and they (staff) support (them) to be independent.” A staff member told us, “We always encourage people to do as much as they can. I don’t take that away from them. Even with things liked the TV remote, I give them the remote to change the channel themselves if they can. They can use the Alexa and chose music.” People were well supported to maintain relationships and access activities important to them. Relatives’ comments included, “They do lots of activities and she loves to speak with friends, reads and watches the snooker on television” and “I try to encourage [person] to go to activities. They brought the animals, the pony and the rabbit, to see [person] in their room.” Staff told us, “We have enough time to do activities in the afternoon”, “I love this home for entertainment, there’s never a dull moment” and “I give one to ones for people in their rooms. It's important to get people moving. We can face time relatives who live abroad”.

The service listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff respond to people’s needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. Relatives felt staff were quickly available to anticipate and accommodate people’s immediate needs. Observations undertaken during our visit supported this view. For example, a person became upset, and staff offered immediate assurance, spending time listening to them and providing emotional support. Relatives’ comments included, “Staff are very busy but make the time to read and sit with [people]”, “They (staff) are always checking on [person]”, “If staff are called they come straight away” and “They (staff) know how to deal with situations and are able to calm [people] effectively.”

The service cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff, and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. Staff told us they were well-supported by the service. One staff member explained how the service had recently introduced a team leader role, following feedback from staff, and this had meant the staff team were better organised and had enhanced their wellbeing at work. The staff member commented, “It’s better now with the structure of team leaders because we have allocations about who assists with meals, we have more time to do things with people, we always know where each other is.”