Bloomsbury Home Care – Essex Mid

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 is the first assessment for this newly registered 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.

Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity and encouraged people to remain independent. People were supported by a caring staff group who respected their choices and preferences. Staff felt supported by their leaders and colleagues and felt able to contribute to decision making.

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 always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion, respecting their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. People and relative comments included, “They [staff] know what they are doing and are very gentle with [person]. They [staff] are respectful, very much so and I would describe the carer`s as very caring and gentle” and “I have good impressions of them [staff]. I am never rushed, and my dignity is always respected.”

Staff told us there was a kindness culture in the staff and all team members respected each other. Comments included, “Staff are trained to maintain client’s dignity, confidentiality, respect and privacy. We have regular team interactions that help us to stay connected and get to know each other well.” And “The staff team promotes kindness by supporting each other and ensuring people feel valued and safe. I believe most staff genuinely care and treat people with respect, but if any issues arise, they are addressed.”

People’s individual needs were assessed, and the information used to shape their own personalised care plan. Staff understood people’s needs and preferences. This was reflected in their care, treatment and support they provided.

Staff told us how they respected people’s individuality, wishes and preferences. Staff treated people as individuals taking into account their strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and protected characteristics. A member of staff told us, “Information is made available in the care plans and staff visiting the clients has access to readily available information about culture, social, religious and preferences. We provide person centred care to ensure people’s needs are met accordingly.”

People’s care plans reflected their individuality and were respectful of people’s personal, cultural, social and religious needs, ensuring they were understood 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. Overall people we spoke with told us they were supported to have choice and control over their own care and were encouraged to make decisions about their care, treatment and wellbeing as much as possible. One person told us, “We get female staff now, which is our preferred choice as previously the service sent 2 male staff.” Staff spoke positively about their roles and how they promoted people’s independence and choices when providing care and support to people. One member of staff told us, “I encourage independence by giving a person the opportunity to do what they can for themselves, for example, when providing personal care, I involve the person and encourage them to wash where they can, like their hands, face, areas they can reach and manage independently.”

People and/or their relatives told us they knew how to raise a concern or complaint. The majority told us the complaints procedures and whom to contact were kept in the person’s folder in their home and they also felt confident they could call the office if they had anything to raise. People and relatives told us, “No complaints and I think [name of manager] is good and it is well managed,” “It has only been a month, but I would recommend them as they are very, very good. No complaints.” And “It is in the folder; I have no complaints, and I have a Whatsapp contact as well. The manager is on the website. I would recommend them as they are honest, reliable, do a good job and turn up on time and they are really nice people.”

The manager told us all feedback was acted on. Any specific complaints would be dealt with following their complaints policy. The manager had a complaints log in place which detailed the complaint/outcome and any actions taken.

Feedback from staff was positive regarding the support they received from the senior team and their colleagues. Comments included, “We are treated well, we get our break times, regular days off. The service is very accommodating, for example, if you have children your rotas are managed accordingly,” and “I feel well listened to regarding my concerns. We are supported with breaks, and rotations.”

The culture of the service promoted positive well-being through inclusivity, active listening, and open conversations. People were supported by staff who felt valued by their leaders and their colleagues. Staff received regular supervisions and had the opportunity to attend regular staff meetings. The manager spoke of various incentives to enhance staff well-being, such as refer a friend scheme, employee of the month, sending out birthday cards to staff and celebrating staff promotion/success stories on their social media platform.