The Sussex Village Homecare Service Limited

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

Caring – this means we looked for evidence that the service involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. This is the first assessment for this service. This key question has been rated good. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

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.

The service always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff gave examples of how they upheld people’s privacy and dignity, especially when people lived with family. A staff member said, “Most people have [mental] capacity so we ask them and make sure they are happy with things like shutting the door. We check they are ok with us closing it as some don’t like this. Otherwise, I make sure I always pop a towel over them to make sure they are not exposed and feel comfortable.”

The service treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics. Some people were unable to use words to communicate, staff worked with them and tried different approaches to understand their needs. A staff member told us, “With [person], at first it was difficult by learning to know them and using their cues. With clothes I give a choice and hold up what [person] might want, they sometimes say yes or no. I have an app on my phone I use and I ask [person] to type, I put it as big letters. [Person] touches the screen to show what they want. I sit with [person] to teach them to tick the letters, I have this app which is quite helpful. [Person] likes the app, you can see they are very happy.”

The service promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. Staff gave us examples of how they ensured people’s autonomy was promoted safely. A staff member said, “The first thing I do is let them decide what they want to do, like shower and how they want to do it. Also with [person], I don’t want to step on their toes so politely ask if I can clean the bathroom as I can see the floor is getting wet and I don’t want them to fall.”

The service listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff responded to people’s needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. People’s care was reviewed on a regular basis, any changes to people’s visit times and length of visits were discussed and accommodated. A person told us management were flexible so visit times suited them and their preferences. They said, “They make my life better. I consider myself a very lucky person to have such marvellous carers. I know them and they know me. So far I've always had women (female staff) and this is my preference.”

The service cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff, and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. Staff told us and rotas confirmed shift patterns were arranged to suit their home lives. A staff member said, “I think what I enjoy is the feeling of being valued, I sincerely mean this. I know that there is really good communication and if I had a problem I could just say it.”