Azalea House

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

As part of this assessment, we looked at 5 quality statements for the key question of caring. These were ‘kindness, compassion, and dignity, treating people as individuals, independence, choice and control, responding to people’s immediate needs and workforce wellbeing and enablement.’ People were treated with kindness, empathy and compassion and their privacy and dignity was always maintained. Staff treated people as individuals and made sure their care and support fully met their needs in line with their preferences. People’s independence was fully encouraged and promoted ensuring they had choice and control over their care and support. Staff were passionate about their jobs and reflected pride in their work. They talked about people with passion and commitment. The support and wellbeing of staff was promoted to enable them to always deliver person-centred care.

This service scored 100 (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’s core values were supportive, ambitious, loyal, unique, transparent, engaging and meaningful. Staff we spoke with were fully aware of the core values of the service and were passionate about their jobs. Their care and support reflected the provider’s core values. One staff member reflected the value of loyal when they told us, “The people who live here always come first. I love this place. I enjoy coming to work every day. We are like family.” The registered manager told us that staff went over and above their roles, The commented, "All staff are flexible and swap shifts and cover for each other so that everyone’s needs are met. Staff will attend at short notice where support is required, even voluntary. In 7 years, we have never had to use agency staff.” People felt that staff listened to them and communicated with them appropriately, in a way they could understand. One person said, “The staff talk through things with me and give me choices and options to help me understand.”

People felt that staff listened to them and communicated with them appropriately, in a way they could understand. One person said, “The staff talk through things with me and give me choices and options to help me understand.” The provider’s core values were supportive, ambitious, loyal, unique, transparent, engaging and meaningful. Staff we spoke with were fully aware of the core values of the service and were passionate about their jobs. Their care and support reflected the provider’s core values. One staff member reflected the value of loyal when they told us, “The people who live here always come first. I love this place. I enjoy coming to work every day. We are like family.” The registered manager told us, “All staff are flexible and swap shifts and cover for each other so that everyone’s needs are met. Staff will attend at short notice if support is required, even voluntary. In 7 years, we have never had to use agency staff.”

There was a culture of kindness and respect between colleagues from other organisations. Feedback from the local authority did not raise any concerns and they informed us that the service had an assessment carried out in October with an excellent rating. Healthwatch also visited the service in May 2024 and told us they had a positive visit.

People’s privacy and dignity was respected and upheld at all times. We saw that staff treated people with kindness and respect and saw that personal conversations were held somewhere quiet so that others could not overhear the conversation. People were asked for their choices and their consent from staff throughout the day. We observed that staff were proud of people’s achievements and showed us the ‘wall of praise’ that celebrated achievements and successes.

People told us that without any exceptions all staff treated them as individuals and said their care had been discussed with them and delivered in line with their preferences. Staff had a can-do approach to supporting people. For example, a person had been supported to gain voluntary employment in a charity shop. They told us, “The staff have helped me and gone out of their way to support me getting a job. I enjoy working at the shop and will apply to get paid work when I have some experience.” Another person had been offered a voluntary role at the service. Recently they had been promoted to chief of maintenance, and had a letter offer of promotion along with an ID badge. They also kept their own maintenance diary. This had empowered and enabled them to have a focus and self-worth with positive outcomes. They showed us their ID badge with pride.

Staff fully understood the importance of promoting equality and diversity. One staff member said, "We are all different and live different lives. We are not here to judge." Care plans contained comprehensive information about people's diverse needs and their chosen lifestyles. Another member of staff told us, “People have chosen how they want to live their life. We don’t try to stop people following their chosen lifestyles. It’s their choice and we respect that.”

We saw that staff knew people well and understood their routines. For example, we saw 1 person who liked to stay in their room and not engage with staff for too long. We saw that staff respected their preference to stay in their room. Another person liked to have staff with them as they enjoyed their company and saw that staff stayed with them whilst they were taking part in their chosen activity.

Detailed care plans were focused solely on the individual with person centred care being the main emphasis, ensuring that people were treated as individuals. Care plans demonstrated that people’s communication needs had been assessed and met, to enable them to engage in their care, treatment and support, to maximise their experience and outcomes. Topics of interests were a big part of the initial assessment and re-assessment process which were discussed face to face with people. Information was sought in relation to people’s preferred lifestyles, their cultural and unique backgrounds, the people that were important to them and the different hobbies and interests they enjoyed. Information was also sought about people’s preferred routines and the ways in which their support would fit into their lives rather than their lives having to change because they required support. This meant people’s care was delivered in a holistic and person centred way.

People were fully encouraged to maintain their independence and do as much as they could for themselves. For example, people were supported to prepare and cook meals, and 1 person had been supported to vote in the recent election independently. Another person had been supported to join in staff training in relation to Emergency First Aid at Work, Automated External Defibrillation (AED) Training and Anaphylaxis and EpiPen training so they could learn new skills and grow in confidence. People confirmed they were fully involved in their support. One person said, "I am always kept informed, and the staff listen to what I say. I write in my care plan about the things that are important to me.” We saw comments they had written about an area of their life that was particularly important to them. People were supported to maintain close relationships with people who were important to them. A relative told us, “The staff are very good at making sure [family member] stays in touch and I visit the home regularly. I'm always made to feel welcome and feel part of the Azalea House family.”

Staff had an exceptional understanding of protecting and respecting people's human rights ensuring they were able to make decisions about their support, treatment, and wellbeing. Staff received training about equality and diversity. One staff member told us, "We make sure everyone has the control they need to make decisions and choices about their care. It’s all about giving people the right to make their own decisions and respecting their choices even if we don't agree.”

We observed staff encouraging people to make their own drinks and get their own snacks. We saw photographs of people being supported to clean their rooms and the house, work in the garden and do their own shopping.

People were fully supported to understand their rights because there were lots of leaflets, posters and contact numbers available for anyone that needed support. There were easy read formats of all documents available. There was a lot of discussion that took place, 1:1 sessions, meetings and sign posting. For example, 1 person decided they wanted to move to a different part of the country. The staff understood this was their right and respected their wishes. The request went to a placement review and although the person still resides at Azalea House currently the choice is still there. Staff would also support the person to consult with external agencies if required. All individuals had opportunities to meet with their care coordinators privately and have access to support lines and support services. The provider had forums for the people who used services as another avenue to share their views and ideas.

People felt that staff knew them exceptionally well and were able to engage people in discussions about their immediate needs. One person told us, “The staff have helped me to think things through and not react in a negative way. It has really helped me.” A relative told us, “The staff listen to what I have to say. They keep me informed and up to date. They listen to ideas I have which could help [family member]. I know the staff will deal with any emergencies or crisis situations in the very best way they can. “

The registered manager said, "Unfortunately, crisis occurs and has been displayed very differently on occasions by different people.” They told us they had supported 1 person in crisis when their mental health relapsed to the extent of them being detained under the mental health act. The staff team worked with the Crisis Team, the Mental Health Team and other health professionals, and the person was supported by staff throughout the whole process. The registered manager informed us that as part of the induction training and refresher training, staff covered areas in relation to Mental Health and recognising and minimising discomfort and distress. One staff member told us, "The training is very good, and it prepares us for any emergencies or crisis situations. This meant that staff were trained and prepared to recognise when people needed urgent help or support. The registered manager informed us that the previous way of undertaking keyworker meetings had not been not successful and didn't have a positive impact on people using the service. There was a standard template of questions to ask which did not empower and encourage anyone to have the necessary support to manage their addictions, emotions and general wellbeing. The registered manager introduced new 1:1 'Let’s talk' sessions which were about giving people their voice and control back so they had the autonomy to implement their own therapy based sessions.

We saw that when people needed staff support or attention this was given swiftly, and staff knew how to support people appropriately.

People fully benefited from a staff team who had regular opportunities to provide feedback about the service, raise any concerns and give their views about how to improve the service. For example, 1 staff member said, "Our manager is very approachable, their door is always open, and they are always there to listen to our ideas and views and thoughts." Another staff member said, “The manager cares about us, cares about our wellbeing and cares about our feelings. They listen to us.” A third member of staff commented, "We have so many opportunities to talk with our manager and feedback. We have supervisions, team meetings and daily de-briefs. We are a small service, so we talk all the time. We are definitely a close-knit team with a fantastic manager."

There was a strong organisational commitment and effective action to ensure there was equality and inclusion across the workforce. For example, the provider had a workforce app that had wellbeing help lines, interactive groups and menopause support available to staff. Staff were also supported to use the ride to work scheme and there were employment confidential support lines accessible to staff as well. Staff achievements were recognised by an employee of the month scheme. Staff had been empowered to learn and develop skills where English was not their first language or where they had not lived in England for any length of time. Staff were supported to learn about English food, Halal needs and foods that met the cultural needs of people using the service.