Alpha Care SW Community 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

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. This key question has been rated Outstanding. This meant people were truly respected and valued as individuals; and empowered as partners in their care in an exceptional service.

This service scored 100 (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 was exceptional at treating people with kindness, empathy and compassion and in how they respected people’s privacy and dignity. Staff always treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. All relatives we spoke with told us they felt all staff, seniors and leaders were exceptionally kind and caring. Comments included, “They are empathic to (person) and to us as the family. They keep (person) active and occupied. As people they are joyful, loving caring and thoughtful. They are very much respectful and patient”, “Caring, compassionate, thoughtful and lovely people. They are very devoted to what they do. As people they have something extra”, “They are amazing. All of them are kind and compassionate” and “(Person) is living her best life”. Care records evidenced and relatives shared examples where staff had gone the extra mile to ensure people received excellent care and support. For example, one person faced difficulties in attending a local leisure centre because the hoist had broken. Despite this being outside of the services remit they acted as an advocate for the family and reminded others of people’s rights, whilst highlighting the importance swimming had to the persons emotional wellbeing. The relative told us, “The swimming pool equipment wasn’t working and the registered manager chased it up for me by contacting (local service). She helped to resolve it”. This meant the person was able to carry on with an activity that maximised their treatment outcomes.

The service treated people as individuals and was exceptional in how they made sure people’s care, support and treatment met their needs and preferences. The service took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics. When people were due to move to the service, a detailed, comprehensive transition plan was developed with people and those important to them. One person who had not been in receipt of formal support before, was extremely anxious about receiving support. Staff worked with the person and empowered them to recruit their support staff and developed a job advertisement and job description to ensure a suitable candidate was employed to support them. The person held interviews with the support of senior staff and sourced a staff member which the registered manager described as a “100% match.” The person had subsequently been supported by this staff member and the registered manager told us the person and the staff member were, “Best mates and inseparable.” The persons relative told us, “The relationship is brilliant. They are really good mates. It's definitely 100% person-centred care. Staff encourage (person) to also try out new things. (Persons) confidence has really improved in going out and doing things.”

The service was exceptional at promoting people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. Staff and management empowered people to make choices and take control over their lives by providing effective teaching skills tailored to individual needs. Staff and management recognised barriers and challenges people faced and planned to overcome them. For example, a person who required support for most physical aspects of their daily living, and did not use words to communicate had expressed a wish to manage their medicine collection. Staff worked with the person to enable them to go out to the pharmacy independently with discreet monitoring to ensure the person’s safety. This had a very positive impact on the person as they did not have this opportunity when in a previous care setting. This gave the person a level of independence that they had never experienced before. Staff supported two people who had forged a deep friendship whilst in education together for 16 years. Due to the people transitioning to the next stage in their lives they no longer had the opportunity to continue their friendship on a regular basis. Both people were unable to verbally communicate their wishes, however, staff noticed the overwhelmingly positive effect when both people met for visits. As a result, the management team worked with a multidisciplinary team and advocated for the people; they are now due to move in together in an independent living setting.

The service was exceptional in how they 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, this was extended outside of people’s assessed needs and usual place of support. For example, a person was unwell and being treated at hospital. The hospital staff were unable to support the person’s complex needs due to staffing levels. The person’s relative was away, so to minimise the persons’ distress and provide comfort, the service arranged for a staff member, who the person knew and liked, to spend time with them. A relative told us, "I was on holiday and (person) was in a respite unit. They needed hospital for (medical condition) and was very poorly. The unit said they didn’t have the staffing to support, and Alpha Care went to the hospital and said they would keep (person) safe. Alpha Care put in the staffing.” The responsive approach of the service meant the person was able to remain comfortable with familiar staff around them which positively impacted their hospital stay and recovery.

The leadership always cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and was exceptional at supporting and enabling staff to always deliver person-centred care. An equality, diversity and human rights approach to supporting people and staff was embedded in the service. The service ensured staff were highly motivated to offer care and support that was exceptionally compassionate and kind. All care staff confirmed that the service supported their wellbeing to make sure they could give their best to people when at work. They described to us, and we saw evidence of the number of reward and recognition schemes that were available to staff. One staff described how they had been sent flowers on their Birthday and the positive impact this had on them. They told us, “It was really unexpected, it's the things like this that really make you feel valued”. Without exception all staff we spoke with were extremely positive about their roles and the excellent work that they carried out. A staff member told us “Before this job, I was a (previous profession) I have a young family and have always found it difficult to find a job without having unreasonable expectations put on myself. Within Alpha Care they do everything they can to support all of us with our other commitments and never question us or push us if we say we need support. I feel I'm heard if I raise a problem, which is very rare. And I always have someone on the end of the phone during a shift. Alpha Care took me on as a shy mum with no experience and have shaped and moulded me into a practitioner that I am incredibly proud to be. I feel my work is effective and I adore everything about what I do. I adore the individuals and watching them thrive makes me so incredibly proud of what we do”.