Right at Home Camden, Hampstead & Golders Green

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 and their relatives spoke very positively about the care and support they received. They found this to be exceptionally caring, respectful, kind and compassionate at all times. People received highly personalised care that supported them to regain and maintain their independence and significantly improved people’s wellbeing and daily living. A relative commented, “Their hand-picked carers deliver the personal touch which means the client and family feel valued and very well looked after indeed.”

This service scored 90 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People were consistently supported by experienced staff who were caring and treated them with compassion and respect and upheld their dignity. People spoke very highly of the staff who lived with or visited them. Comments included, “They are polite, friendly and there is good communication,” “Nothing is too much trouble” and “They have been very kind and helpful.” People said their dignity and privacy were respected. People were supported by staff they trusted, understood their needs and preferences and met these well. People were introduced to staff before they received care from them. A relative said, “[The care workers] are like part of the family.”

Staff were highly motivated and demonstrated real empathy and compassionate understanding for people. Staff provided care in a way that exceeded expectations when supporting people living with dementia, experiencing anxiety or distress or coming to terms with a new diagnosis. For example, when a person was in hospital a care worker visited daily and brought them freshly made food and stayed with them to help them be more comfortable. Another worker often provided additional care, support and companionship beyond expectations to ensure a person who was approaching the end of their life was comfortable at all times. The registered manager took care to ensure people were well matched with staff who they liked and who complemented their interests and preferences. For example, when a person and a care worker supported the same sports team, or another care worker who was also music teacher supported a person with their love of music and piano playing. The service had received compliments about the positive care experiences this had enabled for people, such as “ [Care worker] is wonderful, I’m so glad you found them for [the person]” and “[The agency] took a lot of trouble to find the right carer for [the person] and it's extremely reassuring to see how well things have worked out.” Staff explained to us how they promoted people’s dignity and privacy when providing care.

Professionals we spoke with consistently praised the staff and the management for the care people. Professionals’ told us, “I was impressed by their ethos and attitude” and “[the care staff] are so nice, so sweet.” This was particularly prominent when staff and the registered manager were supporting people with complex needs, professionals commenting, “A caring and personable team”, “Very compassionate” and “The person was always at the heart of it.”

Staff consistently went ‘the extra mile’ to provide people with exceptional, personalised care experiences that recognised and respected their unique needs and preferences. For example, staff made special, surprise efforts to help people celebrate particular dates and anniversaries that were important to them. Staff helped a person celebrate their recovery and improved wellbeing following medical treatment. Another person was delighted by staff bringing them a Christmas present based on a book they were reading. Relatives had also complimented management team as working “above and beyond to provide us with the best care imaginable” and “above and beyond for my [family member] and the carers are all so lovely and professional.” People and their families were in control of planning their care and support.

Staff and leaders showed a good understanding of people’s cultural, social and religious needs and how to meet these in individual ways. For example, through respecting people’s cultural routines and observances at home. Staff respected how some people like to be addressed and have their food prepared and presented. Staff had supported people to go on holiday, including abroad, to places of special significance to them.

The service’s systems and processes ensured people were always treated as individuals. Care plans were highly personalised to reflect each person’s personal, cultural, social and religious needs. For example, a person’s plan was clear how they needed care workers to be referred to so as to help them feel comfortable with their care arrangements. Care plans provided a substantial amount of holistic detail about people’s background and life story, including occupations, important places and significant people. This made sure care plans clearly recognised people as unique individuals. Regular care plan audits and staff supervisions were used to maintain staff focus on meeting people’s individual needs well. The service had recently appointed a ‘going the extra mile’ champion who was working with care staff to share and further develop creative ways to provide personalised care experiences to people. The director continually emphasised the service mission to provide excellent care and ‘be the reason they smile.’

People experienced an exceptional commitment to provide care that helped them regain, maintain and develop their independence. This had positively impacted people’s wellbeing. For example, after surgery significantly restricted a person’s mobility and mental wellbeing, the staff supported their rehabilitation with encouragement back to their daily living tasks, recovery exercise and phased goals to build up their mobility. This restored the person’s confidence and self-esteem and gradually they were able to go outside and socialise again. With a lot of encouragement over time staff supported another person to re-visit their garden and helped re-kindle a past passion. This improved their confidence, sense of independence and overall wellbeing and helped them engage more with their personal care. Staff made extra efforts to support people to enjoy activities, access their local communities and maintain their valued relationships. Relatives commented, “The carer will encourage [the person] to do things for themselves and supports them if and when needed” and “Everything Right at Home has done has exceeded our expectations.”

Staff described how they always supported people to be involved in their care and encouraged them to do things themselves when possible. One member of staff told us, “I don’t just assume for the person.” We saw staff helped a person celebrate successful vision surgery that helped them be more independent. Senior staff explained how when first assessing a person’s need they reassured them staff will help them maintain their independence and planned their care with them to do this.

The service’s systems and processes ensured independence, choice and control. People’s care plans clearly pronounced the importance of staff always involving people in their care to promote their independence and wellbeing. Plans set out how staff should do this and records of daily indicated this took place.

People and relatives found staff responded to people’s immediate needs quickly and sensitively. Relatives told us, “Things can change with [the person] quite rapidly. If anything out of the ordinary happens Right at Home are there with knowledge, experience and support” and "Any issues or changes with my [family member’s] care needs have been dealt with quickly.”

Staff described how they responded sensitively and promptly to people’s immediate needs. For example, if a person seemed unwell or recognising when a person was showing signs they were become anxious about something. Staff had a good understanding of people’s needs to help them be alert to and anticipate this. Senior staff, including the registered manager, were quick to visit people as well when staff reported concerns.”

Staff we spoke with were very satisfied in their work and the service leaders. Staff described the way they were supported and valued in their roles as exceptional and distinctive. Comments included, “[The leaders] are very good at paying attention and giving us support”, “I find comfort working at Right at Home, I feel like going on and on with them” and “I love my job!” Staff described how the registered manager had listened to their individual wellbeing needs and made assorted, personalised adjustments to ensure they were happy and safe in their roles. A member of staff descried the management team as “very accommodating, very helpful, they want to make employees happy.” This meant staff were proud of the service, motivated to provide good care and helped to ensure people receive safe, effective and person-centred care as the provider recognised and met staff’s wellbeing needs.

The management team made concerted efforts to promote inclusivity and staff wellbeing by actively encouraging staff to raise issues and responding to these. Service systems supported this. For example, staff wellbeing was discussed during team meetings and supervisions and various confidential employee assistance services were available. The registered manager shared financial planning resources with the team and the service had partnered with a credit union to promote personal financial security for staff. The service had developed a ‘gold standard care giver’ plan for staff to recognise and support their wellbeing and career development needs. The management team also conducted staff surveys and exit interviews to listen from staff and implement improvements based on this, such as changing when staff received their renumeration. Relatives had commented on the effect these initiatives had on people’s care, “The owner clearly cares about the agency and the individuals involved, wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.”