Active Care Group Supported Services

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

Experienced staff members had a good understanding of the people they cared for and there were good relationships between staff and people. However, people told us that some staff did not always treat people with the same level of compassion and kindness. People were supported in a way that encouraged choice, independence dignity and control over their lives. There were policies and systems in place that underlined this practice. There were activities taking place both at the services and in the community, however they were not always person-centred and the need for more variety was expressed.

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 that the staff were caring, compassionate and knew them well. One person said “When I was treating them less politely, because of my depression and head injury, the staff were understanding, and they treated me well. They understand it is not personal.” Relatives told us that their family members are treated with respect and the staff are positive. One relative stated, “The staff treat her (people) with dignity and respect”. However, staff were not always treating people with kindness. One relative told us, “When she goes back home, there is one of two staff that smile and welcome her, but the other ones are not that welcoming. Some staff treat the place like it is a workplace and not people’s home.”

Staff told us that they have good relationships with the people and know them well. Staff spoke positively about people and underlined their role in promoting independence. One member of staff said, “I know the people that I care for very well. We got to understand their needs. We’ve got a care plan, and we have to read the care plan in order to know how to meet their needs and we’ve got the daily notes where we can write things in there.” A manager at one of the settings said, “Our job is to improve the service user’s skills and not to deskill them. We ensure that the service user is in control of their care. We then keep everyone happy.”

An external professional told us staff are supportive and encouraging. The partner said “If I need them to help me with anything, they’re very supportive and very easy to find.”

We observed staff to be kind and considerate of people’s needs. Staff were seen to be chatting with people and spending time with them in their rooms. We saw staff gave people space at times when they were in their rooms but made sure people knew they were on hand if needed. However, at one of the settings, we observed consideration had not been given to people when loud maintenance works was being undertaken in one of the rooms.

People told us that staff were aware of their needs and wishes. One person said, “The staff are good and really patient, and they know me well. They respect my privacy. If I shower, they pull the blinds, they knock on the door before entering the room.”

Staff told us they respected people’s wishes regarding care and support. A manager at one of the settings told us, “We take on board what the family members suggest around support and care but ultimately, we have to check with the service user and see if they agree. If the service user does not have capacity, the family has the ability to make such suggestions.” Staff told us they had enough time to consult the care plans and familiarise themselves with people’s interests and needs. One staff member told us, “I have enough time to read the residents’ care plans. The care plans are put together by the management with the family and client and we update when we need to when the client is here.”

An external professional has told us about one of the settings that staff behaved in a caring manner, developed caring relationships with people and the management is involved in addressing the existing difficulties with staff culture.

We observed there were staff that had developed good relationships with people and understood their needs. We heard staff talking to people about people’s interests, likes and dislikes.

People’s needs and wishes were included in support plans. People and their relatives were involved in the process of creating and reviewing the plans. Any change was communicated to people, staff and their relatives.

People and their relatives told us they are in control of their care and their choice is sought and valued by staff. One person told us, “The staff here are caring. They respect my privacy. I decide when to get up in the morning. I prefer to get up when a member of staff comes in to get me up. I have an option to refuse, and they would leave me until I want to get up. Half of the time I get up when they come in.” There were activities organised by staff, however relatives told us that they are not sufficient and not varied.

Staff told us people were supported to maintain their independence and were given choices and control over their care. One staff member said, “I offer people choice about what activity they want to do, and I get involved with them. If there is a movie, I go with them and watch.” Staff said there are available activities, and that people are encouraged to participate” We always encourage service users to engage in activities, if they are shy, we still encourage them.

Staff interacted with people and offered choices. Care plans reflected this, and staff were observed reinforcing this by offering options and asking about preferences. There was a limited range of activities for people.

There were robust systems and processes in place that ensured people were given control over their care and support. People were involved in the planning of their care. People were encouraged to participate in activities and contribute with ideas for new activities.

People told us that staff were responsive to their needs, however in some cases there were delays in attending when requesting support. One person told us, “The staff try to get to places within the time I am buzzing. They try to get to you as quick as possible. There might be situations where you’re buzzing away, but there might be a delay when they are helping somebody else.” One relative said, “There are occasional things when the alarm hasn’t gone through the pager. If another goes on at the same time it can block the pager. The staff are generally responsive.”

Staff told us people’s request for assistance are attended in a timely manner. One staff member said, “The residents have call bells. The staff gets there in time. Every shift we allocate different service users to staff. When they press the assist, we go there to answer. “When people’s needs change medical advice is sought and the person and their relatives are involved in the discussions. One manager told us, “If there is any change in needs. We have one of the clients that was not diabetic but then became diabetic. We hold a meeting where we talk about what has changed. We liaise with the medical team; we talk to the families to be included in this. The client tells us what they feel and what they think in order to support them.”

We observed staff provided re-assurance to people when they were anxious. There were times people needed support or advice and staff responded to this straight away. Staff were also seen to anticipate when people might need support and were on hand to provide this.

Staff felt supported by the management and there is a high level of job satisfaction. The staff can contribute their ideas and make suggestions about the running of the service. One manager at a setting told us, “We work as a team and the staff correct me if I am wrong and I will do the same. We try to empower all staff to have a voice. We have a really good bond with the families, which I have not seen in other services. They sometimes don’t even want to talk to the manager because they feel listened to by the staff.” Staff work well as a team and the morale is high. One staff member told us, “We have a very good team here and they are very supportive. We don’t have anyone leaving so that is a good sign.”

Staff files contained a health screening check, therefore the management were aware of health and wellbeing needs. Staff satisfaction surveys were carried out, the results being mostly positive.