Sycamore Court

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• 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 service 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 safe and protected from avoidable harm. People told us that staff were kind, and respectful, and encouraged them to be as independent in their daily lives.

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.

We did not look at Kindness, compassion and dignity during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

The service 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. Not everyone could tell us their experiences, one person told us, “I am treated well.” One relative said about their family member, “Very happy with the care here.” Staff told us they took into account people’s lifestyle choices and respected those choices. One staff member said, “We let them make choices, and it gives them back their identity, we have people that are younger and want to go out and shop online, we assist them.” We saw that staff knew people and their life histories very well and understood their likes and dislikes. Care plans were specific to each person and there were policies that put people at the centre of their care and treated them as individuals. People’s electronic care plans were up to date, personalised and contained detailed information about their strengths, weaknesses likes and dislikes, and how they preferred staff to meet their care needs and wishes. These were updated regularly and when people’s needs changed.

The service promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. People were supported to maintain relationships with people who were important to them. Visitors were welcomed and relatives confirmed they were able to visit their loved ones regularly. Staff told us they offered people choices of drinks and meals, asked where they would like to spend their time, and informed people of different activities taking place. The dining areas were nicely presented with choice of condiments and adapted cutlery and tableware were provided to help people to eat independently where possible. We observed staff offer choices of drinks, food and snacks throughout the day. Care plans reflected people's choices and preferences. Care plans recorded people’s preferences for care, and information of how staff can support people to make informed choices. For example, using pictorial, or written aids. Care records reflected people’s communication needs so staff understood how to provide people with information and how people communicated their choices and preferences. People were encouraged and supported to do as much as they could for themselves, to maintain and develop their independent living skills. People’s care plans reflected this approach, what they were willing and capable of doing for themselves safely, and what they needed staff support with.

The service 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. The service listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff were knowledgeable about each person using the service and could describe their needs, including how any of their individual needs were met. One relative said, “Staff are lovely, never get frustrated or irritated by repetitive questions, they respond immediately to any sign of distress or call bell.”

The service cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. Staff told us they felt well supported in their role. One staff member told us how the training had improved to cover all aspects of peoples' care. All staff we spoke with found the management team to be approachable, and felt they listened to what they had to say, and acted where improvements or suggestions were made. Staff told us the management was approachable and there was an open-door policy in the office and staff could access the office at any time to speak to management.