Homescare Ltd - Peacehaven

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

Staff treated people with kindness and compassion. People’s dignity and privacy was maintained and respected by staff. Staff knew people well and treated them as individuals, conversations were often person centered and people looked comfortable and happy chatting with staff. People’s independence was maintained within the confines of safety. People were encouraged to carry out tasks for themselves but staff were available to support if needed. Most of the time staff responded in a timely way to calls or requests from people.

This service scored 70 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People and their loved ones told us that staff were kind, thoughtful and protected their dignity. A person said, “The staff are lovely.” Another added, “I’m impressed with staff here, kind, friendly and professional, there is humour as well.” When asked about dignity a person said, “Yes, they treat me with dignity and respect.”

Staff told us that people were treated well and that they understood their individual needs, likes, dislikes and personal preferences. All staff assured us that people were treated fairly and with kindness. Staff told us about the importance of maintaining people’s dignity through personal care and at all times when interacting with and supporting them.

Statutory partners supported the view that people were treated well and that staff were kind. There were no concerns around people’s dignity and privacy being respected at all times.

We saw staff interacting with people, singing with them and having conversations about their day and their plans. Staff approached people thoughtfully and with kindness, not rushed, always taking time to stop and talk with people if not engaged in other tasks.

People and their loved ones told us of a staff team that were welcoming, supportive and who were aware of their individual needs, likes and dislikes. Comments from relatives included, “Yeah, they are welcoming engaging in conversations,” “They are all lovely and very conscious of relatives and visitors. They tell me what mum’s doing” and “I think they are kind and stop listen to me.”

Staff knew people well and treated them fairly having regard to their individual care and support needs. Staff told us that everyone was treated as individuals with their wishes and daily choices being respected within the limits of personal safety.

We heard conversations between staff and people talking about what they had been doing that morning and asking if they had enjoyed the morning activity. Some people chose not to directly engage in conversations and preferred to sit alone. This was respected by staff who were still seen to be supportive, bringing drinks and asking if they were alright but not crowding them unnecessarily.

Care plans were being reviewed and some that we saw did not contain details of people’s personal history, family make up and interests and hobbies. This issue was highlighted to the registered manager.

People told us they were encouraged to do things for themselves within the limits of safety. This included getting dressed and washing and in some case going out of the service for short walks to local shops. A relative told us, “Dad visits a day centre once a week, this is good as it helps him have some independence.” Another said, “She will say can I go into the wheelchair, I have asked the carers

Staff told us they encouraged and supported people to be independent and to do some things for themselves. They said they were always near for example, when a person was getting dressed, in case they needed help or were at risk from a fall. Staff also told us that some people went out of the service regularly on visits and to local places of worship.

During lunch in a communal dining area, we saw most people arrive unaided. People were able to choose where they wanted to sit, some chose to sit alone and others moved into small friendship groups and we heard conversations taking place between people. People chose what activities they wanted to join, some in groups, some one to one and others were able to go out on short trips.

Processes were in place to facilitate people going out on short local trips and to place of worship. Staff also know what activities people enjoyed. Not all of this information was recorded in care plans however and this was being addressed by the registered manager.

Relatives told us that managers and staff were attentive to people’s needs and would always keep them informed of changes or incidents. To put their mind at rest, a relative told us that the managers when they called would always start the conversation with, “Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious.” Relatives told us this immediately put their mind at rest.

Some staff told us that they went over and above what was expected of them in supporting people. One told us that they regularly took people to Sunday Mass even if it was their day off. Staff also told us that people’s day to day needs were attended to in a timely way.

Most of the time there were enough staff to respond to people’s needs. People were supported during activities and when sitting quietly in communal areas. There were occasions when call bells were not answered in a timely way.

Not all staff were aware of the whistleblowing policy and process. However, staff did tell us that they felt confident to approach the registered manager or deputy manager if they had concerns. One staff member said, “I’ve only had one supervision meeting but can raise issues anytime. I’m confident to speak with managers.” Staff told us that the managers were supportive to them and were sympathetic to their needs and sometimes short notice requests. A staff member said, “They are approachable and I can ask anything. Can always call them out of hours and they have been understanding with childcare issues. Very accommodating.”

Most staff have had a supervision meeting within the last 12 months however none had any scheduled for the future. There were no team meetings for all staff, only handover meetings and meetings for senior staff and managers. This was another area that the registered manager was aware of and was beginning to put more regular processes in place.