- Homecare service
Comforting Hands Ltd
Report from 18 December 2024 assessment
Contents
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
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 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.
Kindness, compassion and dignity
The provider always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. Relatives told us staff were respectful towards them and their loved ones. A relative told us, “They (staff) are totally respectful.” Another said, “I always hear them taking to [name of person]. Sometimes [name of person] shouts a lot, and I hear them (staff) talking gently.”
Treating people as individuals
The provider 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. Care plans recorded people’s social needs. The provider explained how they changed call times to meet these needs, when, for example, people were going out. When talking about dealing with behaviour that may challenge, a staff member told us, “I have been trained to communicate with people and accept it because of their characteristics (of their medical condition).”
Independence, choice and control
The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. People’s preferences and wishes were paramount to how care was organised and delivered. People, and their relatives, felt comfortable discussing their care with staff and the registered manager. Risk assessments promoted people’s independence.
Responding to people’s immediate needs
The provider listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff responded to people’s needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. Relatives described how they were able to alter calls as circumstances required, and the service responded to these requests. One relative told us, “I do ring sometimes and ask if they (staff) can come earlier because [name of person] is in a mess, they always oblige.”
Workforce wellbeing and enablement
The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. The provider had a number of initiatives to support employee wellbeing, such as advances on wages, providing support for driving theory tests, and loans of company cars. The provider actively facilitated the religious requirements of staff by providing staff with protected time to practice their faith. Support was also available for staff when a person died. On one occasion, a staff member was provided with money to have a coffee with relatives to remember the deceased person. One staff member told us, “If I have a family issue or something is bothering me, I can speak to the [registered] manager, and they will make suggestions. They listen.”