HF Trust Hythe

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.

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

People received support from staff that were kind and caring whilst respecting their privacy and dignity. People’s individuality was promoted and respected by staff who knew them well. People’s independent living skills were encouraged and developed. Information was available to enable staff to meet people’s needs at times of distress and anxiety. Some staff felt their feedback was not always listened to and acted on.

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 spoke highly of the staff using word such as, “great” and “gorgeous” to describe them. People were positive about the support they received from staff. A person said, “I am always happy when I am with [staff name]. I am very happy with [staff name] too”.

Whilst visiting people we observed good-humoured interactions between people and their staff. People were observed smiling, laughing and joking with their staff during our visit. People appeared relaxed in the company of staff and other tenants. Staff knew people well including their health needs, likes and dislikes and communication needs.

Relatives told us their loves ones were always happy to return to their home and found the staff, “lovely” and “very friendly”. The service had received a compliment from a health care professional about 2 staff’s caring approach, “Their kind and gentle approach helped to create a relaxed atmosphere”.

People told us and relatives confirmed that staff treated them as unique individuals. A person described how they liked to joke with people. They described how they had played a joke on the manager, and they had taken the joke in the good humour that it was intended. Another person told us sometimes they were not in a good mood and staff knew how to cheer them up. They said, “I am always happy when I am with staff. I keep staff company.”

Staff knew people’s strengths, abilities and preferences and these were recorded in people’s care records. This included how people liked to spend their time, whether they had a specific routine they liked to follow and any cultural or faith needs. There was also information about people’s life history to help staff understand people’s past experiences and circumstances.

People’s homes were personalised with things that were important to them such as photographs and pictures. This created a homely atmosphere where people could relax.

People said they made choices about what they wanted to eat, wear and what they wanted to do with their time. One person told us they had chosen their clothes and matching jewellery for that day as they were going out for lunch with their family. Another person told us they were going to London on the train to visit the ‘British Transport Museum’ for their birthday which they were very excited about.

Staff encouraged people’s independence by praising them for their accomplishments. One person told us they had gone food shopping with staff and pushed the shopping trolley. Staff responded in doing so they had really helped. Another person was supported by staff to complete their own washing.

Staff were guided by information in people’s care records which clearly set out what aspects of a task people were able to do independently and when they needed staff support.

Staff were observed responding to people’s immediate needs. A person was observed becoming distressed and anxious, the member of staff spoke in a calm and polite way which reassured the person and enabled them to continue with their conversation.

Staff told us that 1 person was having difficulty expressing their pain. As a result, staff had worked alongside the speech and language therapist to create an image chart which enabled the person to show staff the scale of pain they were in.

People’s care records provided staff with enough information on how to support people who could not verbalise if they were in pain or distress. They described how changes in people’s face, skin, breathing or body posture could indicate if the person was content or unhappy.

Staff were able to describe how people presented when they were happy and content and when they were not their usual selves. They said if this was the case they tried several options and suggestions with people to find out what was troubling them.

The service had not always prioritised workforce wellbeing. At the last assessment the provider had carried out a staff survey there had been a lot of negative feedback. The provider sent out another survey during our assessment. The initial results were requested and sent. The results showed an increase in staff engagement with a higher number of staff completing the survey, plus an increase in job satisfaction since the last survey.

Staff told us they attended regular staff meetings which enabled them to discuss working practices. However, some staff felt the staff meetings did not add any value and said they did not feel listened to. Records of staff meetings showed staff were given an opportunity to raise any concerns they had or to provide feedback.

A staff supervision and annual appraisal matrix was in place. This included a variety of supervisions including, one-to-one supervisions with their line manager, peer group supervision and an annual appraisal. Competency checks were in place for medication and moving and handling which were completed with the member of staff and a member of the management team.