Gentle Hands Home Care

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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

At our last inspection we rated this question good, this rating remains unchanged. People told us there was only a small staff team, but they were kind and friendly. Staff were caring and compassionate. Staff supported people to maintain their independence and provided care and support that met their individual needs and preferences. People had choice and control about how they wanted to receive their care and support from staff.

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.

We did not look at Kindness, compassion and dignity during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

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 did not look at Independence, choice and control during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

People were generally happy with their staff team. Staff used a range of methods to involve people/families and relevant professionals, in making decisions about their care. People received care and support that met their individual needs and preferences and planned to maximise people's independence. One person told us, “The staff have been fantastic, everything is done well. I like them and I get on well with them and they do support me with doing other things if they have the time.”

No specific feedback from staff indicated there were any concerns about immediate care needs not being met. Staff asked people how they would like their care and support to be provided, listened to people and respected their choices about this. Feedback from staff when speaking about needing a quick response; “I do like the swift response, the managers or anyone in the office will always answer your call. If they miss it, they call back as quickly as they can and always try to help.”

Feedback from staff was mixed. Some staff felt supported, were able to raise concerns with managers and that their concerns would be listened too and acted on. Other staff had explained, “Sometimes we raise concerns, they are noted and gradually you see changes, on other occasions you can feel unheard, and this makes you reluctant to report anything in the future.” Another said, “We don't have staff meetings to exchange information.” Feedback from the two managers, included how they believed they had supported staff within the work environment. Plans were in place to further promote staff inclusion and wellbeing, and had staff meetings which they felt would result in better outcomes for people.

The provider had equal opportunities policies in place. They recognised the importance of supporting staff wellbeing and had identified they needed to organise regular meetings in order to give information and receive staff feedback. There were systems to support staff in the workplace and with any concerns they had. Staff were given advice, guidance and support in an informal way. There were processes for staff to speak up either anonymously, or with other managers.