Care at Home Group Cheshire East and West

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

We assessed 5 quality statements under the caring key question, identifying both areas of good practice and areas requiring improvement. The overall rating for this key question is good. People generally reported that staff treated them with kindness and compassion during care calls. Staff acknowledged challenges related to rostering and attending calls but also highlighted recent improvements and changes in these areas. Care plans included information about individuals’ personal histories and preferences, enabling staff to provide personalized care and support people to maintain their independence. Many individuals expressed appreciation for having regular and consistent staff attending their calls, emphasizing the positive impact of these relationships.

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.

Overall people told us staff treated them with kindness, compassion and respect. Comments included, “Staff are quite kind, and they will offer to make me breakfast and they tidy up after themselves” and, “Yes I always feel that they respect that it is my home, and I make the decisions.” A relative also told us, “The carers are compassionate and kind and willing to go the extra mile.”

Staff told us they were supported by the management team, and told us of some challenges they’d experienced. However, staff members felt senior leaders were trying to make improvements across the service. Comments included, “They tell you what is right and what you should do with clients” and, “You can go there [Office] and have conversations. They do support.”

We received no concerns from partners over treatment of people by staff.

People and relatives spoke about the inconsistency of different care staff completing calls, which meant that some care staff where not always aware of the care requirements of the call. However, people also told us that staff were respectful and engaging in their approach. We were told, “Most of them do respect [Person] and her dignity. For example, they support [Person] with personal care and they try and do this in as modest a way as possible” and, “I have a lovely relationship with my regular morning carer and now I have more regular evening carers they do have a little chat.”

Staff described people as individuals and how they care for people as an individual. Staff also highlighted the importance on the provider to ensure that both staff and people were treated individually. We were told, “They [Provider] need to be personal centred not only towards their clients, but also staff as well. If staff are not happy, the clients won't be happy.”

The manager told us they promoted the provider’s values through the induction and training of staff. As part of their training staff were encouraged to see what it felt like to use equipment such as being hoisted. This aimed to help staff to understand how it may feel to the person and promote dignity within their approach. Care plans contained, 'All about me information' and included people's preferences, to support staff to understand and treat people as individuals.

People told us staff supported them in a way that they wished and considered their wishes and preferences. We were told, “The carers who come to have a good working relationship with [Person],” “I never feel rushed by the carers” and, “The staff who've come have been caring and attentive.”

Staff spoke of respecting people rights and how they wished to receive their care. This included ensuring any changes, or requests for a change in care were escalated to the office staff.

Care plans were in place and guided staff about the way people wished to be supported. This included supporting and encouraging people to be independent when able. The manager told us the service had started to focus on an outcomes-based approach and that care plans would reflect what people wanted to achieve from their care and support.

One relative told us staff had been very kind and responsive, having stepped in to ensure their relative was safely supported overnight following an emergency.

The manager shared how they had supported a person to access further assessment and funding, to ensure they were supported effectively with end-of-life care.

Staff described mixed views over support with wellbeing from the management team. Comments included recent changes and actions senior leaders were making to implement improvements. We were told, “I think this month, or the last two months, it's improved and it's becoming better. I just can't speak for all of us, but [Staff member] is trying.”

The provider had systems to monitor the number of hours staff worked and to ensure these were in line with their individual requirements. There was an on-call system, so staff could access support outside of office hours if necessary. The provider had various initiatives to help support staff well-being. Managers had shared some dates with staff in a recent newsletter to encourage more engagement with the office team such as a fancy-dress competition and refreshments/cake morning. The provider facilitated a ‘Carer of the month’ award.