Southside Partnership Domiciliary Care Agency

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 were treated equally and with compassion, and had their human rights and diversity respected. Staff treated people with respect and dignity and upheld their right to privacy. People were supported to have choice and control and make decisions about how their support was provided. They were encouraged and helped by staff to do as much as they could for themselves, to maintain their independence. People’s friends and families were free to visit them with no restrictions.

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.

There was a strong, visible person-centred culture in the services we visited. Staff were highly motivated and inspired to offer care that is kind and promotes people’s dignity. Feedback from stakeholders continued to be positive about the way staff treated people. Staff we spoke with demonstrated a compassionate attitude to care. They always spoke about people in a positive, respectful and kind way and were aware of the need to provide people with dignified care. We found there were very strong relationships between people and staff. We spoke with staff that had been supporting people for many years which meant they had the the time and opportunity to develop meaningful relationships with people. These relationships were highly valued by both staff and people using the service. Staff were extremely confident when speaking about people's support needs and demonstrated a deep understanding of their people's behaviours. Staff found innovative ways to enable people to manage their own health and care when they can and to maintain independence as much as possible. Staff were exceptional in enabling people to remain independent.

People were truly respected and valued as individuals and were empowered as equal partners in their care. People told us how friendly, supportive and caring staff who supported them were. Feedback received from people and their relatives was overwhelmingly positive. People typically described managers and staff as “kind” and valued their relationships with staff team. One person said, “I like the staff. They look after me and they are kind. I am happy living here.” Another said, “I like it here staff are nice.” A relative added, “The staff show a lot of compassion and respect towards my [family member].” Furthermore, the feedback from external health care professionals was equally positive, with one remarking, “The service provides a caring environment because the attitude and approach of all the managers and staff is always so positive and compassionate.”

People’s body language which included lots of smiling and laughter when interacting with staff indicated they enjoyed staff’s company and were relaxed and comfortable in it. We observed staff engage in meaningful conversations with people they supported and take their time to really listen and understand what was being communicated to them. We observed people taking a lead and deciding on which activities they wanted to take part, whether this was going out in the community or doing activities at home. Staff respected people's choices and gave them the space to make informed decisions. We observed managers and staff respect the privacy and dignity of people they supported. For example, staff always knocked on the front doors to people’s flats or their bedrooms and sought the occupants permission to enter before doing so. Staff recognised and respect people’s holistic needs. People's personal, cultural, social and religious needs were taken into account and respected by staff. Staff spoke about people’s emotional and social needs as being as important as their physical needs. they gave a number of examples of how they respected these.

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 also observed a person effectively use a personalised, easy to read pictorial communication book to communicate with staff about their choices, including what activities they wanted to do and the what they wanted to eat. Staff used this to communicate with the person effectively, we noted this person’s decision to go out with staff on the bus was understood and respected by staff. We received positive feedback from partner agencies about how staff treated the people they supported. One external health care professional told us, “The staff are kind and understand the individual needs of our patients.”

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 enabling approach and set out clearly people’s dependency levels and what they were willing and capable of doing for themselves, and what they needed staff support with. For example, peoples care plans clearly stated who was willing and capable of safely eating and drinking without any staff assistance. People using the service were involved in recruiting staff, this meant their views and opinions were considered and they were were empowered and given some autonomy in choosing which staff they wanted to support them. Newly recruited staff were matched with people, based on common interests. This helped to develop strong bonds and relationships with people. Detailed PBS support plans which contained both proactive and reactive strategies to support a person who’s independence had decreased. Bespoke activity support guidelines were available for staff to refer to when supporting people. Monthly house meetings were held where people were able to give their views and have them listened to. These meetings typically discussed anything they wanted to do such as activities or holidays as well as any issues they had. People were also allocated key or link workers who met with them on a monthly basis to discuss any support needs and what was and was not working well for people. This gave them an opportunity to discuss anything in a private, safe space. The provider used 'Quality of Life' indicators to monitor activities against desired outcomes, such as maintaining family contact, maintaining physical health and financial independence. This helped people to lead independent lives.

We found staff who were highly motivated and offered exceptional care and support. They cared for individuals and each other in a way that exceeded expectations. Managers and staff understood they should be supported to have choice and control and make decisions about how their care and support was provided. One member of staff told us, “It’s important we take our time to listen and understand exactly what people we’re supporting are telling us. We have no right to stop people making informed choices.” Staff ensured people could be as independent as possible and respected this right. Staff provided numerous examples of how they supported people to remain as independent as possible and to maintain their daily living skills. One member of staff told us how they supported a person to get involved in maintaining their bedroom and personal space. “I know one person I support likes to make their own bed, so I help them achieve this by enabling them to hold one corner of the bed sheet so we can put it on the bed together.” Another staff member told us how they supported and encouraged people to access volunteering and potential employment opportunities. They said, “A few people we support now work as volunteer’s in a local café, which has really boosted their confidence and independent living skills.” The Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) team was a key part of the service and worked with individuals and staff providing exceptional support. One person who had been living in their home for several years, and had developed anxieties around accessing the stairs was supported by the PBS team through individual sessions to overcome these anxieties which enabled them to continue living in their home and to maintain their independence. This involved working with both the person and the staff team in the supported living placement.

People were given the autonomy and had full choice and control about when and how they preferred to receive care and support from staff. People told us they were supported to make informed choices, which staff respected. One person said they could choose the clothes they wore, the food they ate and when they visited their family. A relative told us, “They [staff] ask my [family member] what he wants to do and often take him shopping so he can choose what he buys.” Staff empowered people to have a voice and to realise their potential. They show determination and creativity to overcome obstacles to delivering care. People’s individual preferences and needs are always reflected in how care is delivered. People told us staff supported them to be as independent as they could and wanted to be. One person who was being supported by a member of staff used Makaton sign language to tell us they liked to get in and out of their wheelchair on their own. Staff confirmed this was this persons choice, which they respected based on an assessment of the risks involved, which everyone involved had agreed was an acceptable risk to take. A relative told us, “Staff help my [family member] with cooking in her kitchen.” Another relative added, “They [staff] support my [family member] to prepare the food he wants and always involve him in the process of chopping the vegetables.”

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.