Clarissa's Home Healthcare Services LTD

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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

People told us carers were respectful, polite, friendly, caring and people’s dignity was upheld. The care plans had guidance on supporting people with their independence, encouraging people with their independence and giving people choices. The care plans documented where people were able to support themselves independently.

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.

People told us about the carers, “They are very respectful and definitely aware of my dignity when carrying out personal care. No problems there” and “They always are very polite and treat me with respect.” People also told us, “They are kind and caring” and “They are very respectful and very, very helpful.” Relatives told us the carers were considered to be kind and caring. Relatives told us, “They’ve [carers] all been very good. They’re all polite, friendly, caring and helpful. They will stay till everything is OK.” Relatives also told us, “I can’t speak highly enough of them. They are brilliant. They are dedicated.” In addition to this, relatives told us, “They [carers] are kind to [person]” and the carers closed curtains and doors if needed when giving personal care and protected dignity by covering personal areas with towels and drawing the curtains. Additionally, relatives told us, “They are passionate about doing care. They do actually care.”

Staff told us about listening to people and treating people with kindness, compassion, empathy, respect and dignity. Staff told us the “Clients rights and privacy are always respected including how their personal information is managed” and taking time to “Understand their needs and let them express themselves. “ Leaders told us they involved people in the decision making and respected their decisions and wishes. Leaders told us they treat people with politeness, respect, giving people dignity and “going the extra mile.” Leaders told us they promoted being kind and caring, making sure people were feeling okay and “It’s not about money it’s about compassion.” Leaders also told us they “Love taking to people and finding out about their life and what they like” and they “Always employ people that are kind and caring.”

Partners told us the service was respectful and kind.

People told us they had been sent male carers when they had specified no male carers. However, people told us this has not happened since they raised their concerns. Relatives also told us, “[Person] definitely doesn’t want male carers. [Person] got one and wasn’t happy and they sorted it out after we phoned.” Relatives commented if people only wanted female carers this was respected and “[person] prefers women carers and gets women carers - that was [person] preference when they asked [person].” People told us, “They almost always come at the times I want and they stay the full time.” We received mixed reviews on communication. People told us, “they don’t chat to me” and “they are very busy and not time to chat.” Additionally, people told us, “They get on with the job, just do the job not much chat.” However, relatives told us, “Carers are pleasant, friendly, easy to talk to. They are very helpful to [person] and informative,” and “The carers are really helpful and really pleasant. [Person] has never said anything against them. They always have a good chat.” Relatives also told us people were asked their past history, backgrounds and preferences at their initial assessment by the service and “we were asked about past background and interests.”

Staff told us they treat people as individuals and respect their needs. Staff commented seeing people as “a unique person with skills, strengths and personal goals.” Staff also told us the needs and preferences of the people “are understood and are reflected into their care” and staff provided person-centred care and followed the care plans of the people. Staff told us “every person's care is different because it takes into account what they want, value and wish for” and “Their personal cultural, social and religions needs are understood and met.” Leaders told us people had individual needs, they followed the individual’s needs and found out all about people including their likes and dislikes. Leaders told us they take all religious and cultural needs into account and they “find carers with the same religions and find carers that speak different languages so we match them with clients.” Leaders told us about supporting people to meet their personal, social, religious and cultural wishes and needs including having female carers, going to church and going for a walk with their dog. Staff told us, “we need to keep them safe.” The registered manager informed us the people used to have different carers as the service had challenges towards the end of last year which were now resolved. The registered manager informed us there was consistency of carers. With regards to male carers, the registered manager told us they try and abide with people’s preferences of gender of carer. We were told initially the service, only the male carers were drivers and therefore people not having their preference met may have occurred during the induction period. The registered manager informed us this was not happening now.

The care records did not always record what the dislikes were even though the records stated people were able to verbalise their dislikes. However, the records showed some hobbies, likes, activities were explored along with details of where people were able to support themselves.

People told us “they do encourage me to do what I can.” People also told us, “They encourage me to do what I can but I can’t do much and they help with whatever I can’t do” and “[Person] may not be able to communicate very well but they give [person] time and patience and used different communication methods to include [person] in [person] own care.” Relatives told us, “Yes [person] does get choices” and “[Person] can walk around inside and choose what she wants.” Relatives told us, “[Person] care has lots of choices from the carers.”

Staff told us they would encourage, support people and assist if needed and “the service works hard to ensure that the clients are happy, healthy, well supported and can maintain connections that are important to them.” Staff also told us they would, “Provide opportunities for the individual to make their own decisions, offering plenty of favourable choices and respecting what they prefer” and people are not rushed as staff knew the “capabilities and limitations.” Leaders told us they promoted independence, kept people involved and encouraged people to utilise their skills. Leaders told us if people are struggling, they offered help, gave options of support and respected their decision. Leaders told us they would contact professionals if a reassessment was required, involved people when doing personal care and were person centred.

The care plans had guidance on supporting people with their independence, encouraging people with their independence and giving people choices. The care plans documented where people were able to support themselves independently. This enabled people to have more control over how they received care.

People told us the carers were kind, caring and “They are very respectful and very, very helpful.” People also told us, “I love company but they don’t chat too much. They do look after me though.” People fedback the carers called their relatives if they thought people were not feeling too good or called the relatives to remind them if the tablets were not there. Relatives told us, “Carers are cheerful, pleasant and polite” and “I cant speak highly enough of them. They are brilliant. They are dedicated.” Relatives told us the carers were very good at dealing with behavioural concerns and “they work really well with [person].” Relatives also told us, “[Person] decides what [person] wants and is happy enough with [person] care. The carers listen to [person] if things change and they are OK with that.”

Staff told us they refer to the care plan, speak with people and “actively listen and involve them in their day-to-day care.” Staff told us they would learn about the person’s preferences and through attentive listening and recording information, they can work with the person to “determine the necessary support.” Leaders told us they listened to people, asked the right questions, listened to the answers and referred to professionals to assess. Leaders told us if people were distressed they offered support and also checked the equipment was functioning, such as changing batteries in the hearing aids or if an optician or audiologist appointment needed to be made. Leaders told us when people had anxiety they listened and also they assessed in case there was a deterioration in people’s needs.

Staff told us the service promoted well-being by asking the staff how they are feeling and by training staff so they, “gain the necessary skills to provide person centred care.” Staff told us they are “valued by the service” and the service believes “a happy worker who is stress free can offer good services and help deliver the best person-centered care.” Staff also told us the service has told them to contact the service in any situation and they are encouraged to share ideas. Leaders told us they actioned training to support their carers, talked to their staff, held staff meetings, supervisions and appraisals. Leaders told us about supporting their staff, “If we make a good foundation, then the care that is excellent” and they actioned the rotas with scheduled breaks. Leaders also told us they do not call their staff on their days off and staff are encouraged to register with services such as GPs.

The service had a staff retention and risk assessment policy and procedure. The service had an employee handbook which included details of benefits available to staff.