Prime Care Domiciliary Essex

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 newly registered service. We assessed a total of 5 quality statements from this key question. 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 70 (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 treated with kindness and compassion. Feedback from relatives and people were mostly positive about how caring staff were. A relative told us, “They are so very kind. They are all lovely. They do [relative’s] catheter and everything they are so gentle with [relative]. They really are so nice, they talk to [relative] and to me, so kind.” Another relative told us, “They are all lovely, just lovely and respectful to [relative], I can’t fault them.”

Staff were able to tell us about people's preferences and how they liked to be supported. A member of staff told us, ''I enjoy talking to people and understanding what they like or dislike. I love my work because of the people I support.''

We received positive feedback from a health professional. They told us, “We receive consistently positive feedback about the care Prime Care delivers.”

Most people and their relatives spoke positively about how staff treated them as individuals. A relative told us, “They are very polite and nice to [relative].” Another relative told us, “The carers are lovely, they really are, they treat you like you were their family, so good."

Staff told us they worked hard to support people and meet their individual needs.

People received care that was individual and personalised to their needs. However, people's care plans and risk assessments were not always personalised, and support was not always in line with care plan guidance. There was a lack of clear guidance and key information in some care plans to enable staff to deliver the right and consistent support people needed. This meant we could not be assured staff had all information required to manage people’s risks or to respond to these in a safe and effective way.

People were given choices throughout the day. Staff had a good understanding of how to support people to make day to day decisions.

Staff knew people well and how they wished to be supported. Staff understood people’s rights and worked with them as individuals to promote positive outcomes.

People's care plans and risk assessments were not always personalised, and support was not always in line with people's care plan guidance. There was a lack of clear guidance and key information in some care plans to enable staff to deliver the right and consistent support people needed. Some people's personal history was either not recorded or sparse. Staff were not provided with enough information about the person's likes or dislikes to help understand them and initiate conversation. Improvements were required to ensure completed care plans and risk assessments were person centred and included how risks to people were to be mitigated and reduced.

Most people and relatives told us they were happy with how staff responded to their requests for support. One relative told us, “They always try so hard and always ask if there is anything else they can do before leaving.” However, another relative told us, “I don’t think staff always understand when I say something to them.”

The leaders and staff had processes in place to listen and understand people’s needs, views and wishes. However, these processes were not robust and there was no documentation in place to reflect people and their relative’s views to improve service delivery

Staff felt well supported working at the service and found it to be a positive experience for them. A member of staff told us, “I really enjoy working for this company. The manager is very approachable, and I don’t have to think twice before sharing any feedback.”

The regional manager and registered manager had a number of systems in place to support and engage with staff. There was an open-door policy in the office and staff could access the office at any time to speak to management.