Choices Healthcare Limited

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

People had experienced significant improvements in the service delivery since the previous inspection however, they still felt they were not always listened to regarding their call times being inconsistent from one day to next. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. People told us staff were kind.

This service scored 60 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Staff had received training however, from people’s feedback we can not be sure this training had been fully understood or embedded, as it did not always appear to be meeting the needs of people and ensure they were treated with dignity and respect at all times. This may be due to cultural differences between the staff and the people they were supporting. The registered manager told us they were aware that people's cultural differences maybe playing a apart in positive communication not always taking place. They have taken steps to address this, including staff supervision, shadowing of staff and extra training if necessary. Staff told us they felt they had adequate training and they told us they were able to ask for any specific training or updates as and when required.

Feedback from people was mixed regarding the care they received from staff. Comments included, “There are some new carers where English isn’t their strong point and [relative] has really struggled to understand them. Some don’t speak much at all and don’t explain what they are doing ” and, “The carer they sent didn’t know what a cheese and cracker was when I asked, so I had to explain it I have had some who don’t know how to use a microwave either.” However, another person told us, " [Relative] has had 2 incidents, the first one was a fall and the carers found [relative]. They kept them calm and warm, called an ambulance, informed me and waited with them until I got there. The other time, they found [relative] face down on the bed, unable to move. They called me, they have been amazing to be honest."

People were asked for their feedback with regards to the staff caring for them. They had telephone surveys carried out and these had come back positive. The results of these surveys were analysed by the management team and actioned if necessary.

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.

People were encouraged to exercise choice and control around their own care where they were able but this was not always respected. For example, people’s choices around call times and consistent care workers were not always met. The registered manager responded to this feedback by developing better communication at the start of care packages to help ensure people's expectations could be managed. The management team described the actions they had taken to increase staff knowledge and understanding to help ensure people's experiences improved.

People's choices and preferences were assessed at the start of service delivery and recorded in their care plans. These were regularly reviewed and updated as people's needs changed.

The provider operated many and varied quality assurance processes to capture any concerns early before they escalated into complaints. The registered manager advised people’s wishes and preferences were taken into account and used to develop care ‘rounds’. People were given a range of between 0800 and 1100hrs for their morning care visit, the registered manager advised they scheduled people’s care calls as close to their preferred times as practicably possible.

We did not look at Responding to people’s immediate needs during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

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.