Acorns Health Care

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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

We assessed 1 quality statement in the caring key question. People told us they were able to make everyday choices and decisions about their care. They told us they felt staff listened to them and respected their choices. Relatives told us they confident staff were responsive and ensured people accessed appropriate healthcare services when required. Staff were alert to people’s needs and supported people to use their preferred communication methods. Leaders and staff told us how they supported people to advocate for their needs to be met and ensured they were supported to be listened to and receive appropriate care and support.

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.

We did not look at Treating people as individuals during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

We did not look at Independence, choice and control during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

People told us they were able to make everyday choices and decisions about their care. For example, what time they got up or went to bed, what they wanted to eat or drink, where they wanted to go or what they wanted to do. They told us they felt staff listened to them and supported their choices. Relatives told us people were supported to use their preferred communication methods and felt people were treated with dignity and respect. Comments included, “If he is worried or upset, they can talk to him. Calm him down”, “I am happy with his care there. I expect high standards”, “He is living his best life” and “They use pictures, have routines and prompts.” People told us they were supported to access community health services. Such as their GP surgery, dentist and community mental health team. Relatives told us people’s health needs were managed effectively by the provider. Two relatives gave examples of how people had been supported by the provider to improve their health. This had resulted in positive outcomes for both individuals. Relatives were confident staff took swift action to source medical and healthcare support when required. One relative told us how staff were proactively monitoring a health condition for their loved one.

Staff understood people’s preferences, likes and dislikes. They were able to demonstrate their awareness and understanding of people’s communication preferences and how they supported people to be active participants in their care. Staff described how they identified each person’s immediate needs. Such as pain, illness and emotional distress. They told us how they would respond and support the person. Staff knew how and when they would escalate people’s needs within the organisation or to external services and organisations as necessary. Leaders and staff supported people to advocate for their needs to be met and ensured they were supported to be listened to and receive appropriate care and support. The provider had implemented bespoke competency assessments for staff which related to the individuals they supported. These provided additional information to staff to enable them to be able to recognise and be observant and alert to people’s support needs and how they would be communicated. The senior leadership team told us about regular the spot checks and audits in place to ensure people were treated with respect and their privacy and dignity were promoted and respected.

People appeared comfortable with staff and staff were responsive and alert to people’s immediate needs. For example, we observed staff recognised a person starting to become distressed and quickly responded and supported the person. People were supported to communicate using their preferred communication methods to make choices and communicate their needs and wishes. We saw staff ensuring people had time to process information and to make choices. Staff were respectful of people’s preferences, wishes and needs. People were treated with respect and dignity. We saw staff included people in conversations and responded to signs of discomfort communicated by people. The provider had systems and processes in place to enable them to quickly access communication aids for people. We saw staff quickly created a personalised communication tool for a person who had experienced an unplanned event to aid their understanding and communication.

We did not look at Workforce wellbeing and enablement during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.