Alina Homecare Specialist Care - Southampton and Hampshire

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

There was scope for plans aimed at supporting people to achieve their new goals to be more detailed and specific. People confirmed they were supported to have choice and control over their own care. People were supported to take part in activities they enjoyed. Care plans were personalised and detailed people’s preferences.

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.

Care plans were personalised and detailed people’s preferences. Systems such as Now and Next boards and communication tools such as PECS were used to help ensure people could make choices about how they wanted to spend their day. There were some systems in place to support people to try new experiences, develop new skills and gain independence. Annual review meetings were completed with the person and their circle of support to discuss and make plans about the person’s goals and aspirations for the coming year. Goals ranged from small steps such as choosing what to have for dinner, playing a musical instrument or undertaking household tasks more independently, to obtaining voluntary work or employment. We saw a number of examples where people had been supported to achieve their goals and aspirations. However, we noted there was scope for the action plans aimed at supporting people to achieve their new goals to be more detailed and specific. A healthcare professional also felt this was an area which could be developed further. They said, “Some services would benefit from more clearly demonstrating how they are working towards ongoing goals through improved documentation of what's being trialled, any progress and next steps. At times there appears to be a tendency to state that something was tried and wasn't successful but not what's happening next”. We discussed this with the provider, to assist in addressing this, key worker meetings were being embedded as a tool to assist people with planning and reviewing progress towards their goals and how these might be achieved. We could also see that in team meetings, staff were being encouraged to work on more goal skill building activities in the home and community.

People confirmed they were supported to have choice and control over their own care. For example, 1 person told us they were ‘Able to change some bits’ when asked about whether they had been involved in writing their care plans. Another person told us, “Yes, I am in charge, and I tell staff what I want. I am in complete control, it’s my own world, in the order I want”. This person told us about their preference for female support workers was always respected. People told us staff knew when they needed their space and privacy and respected this. For example we were told that staff knocked on people’s door before entering. People had been supported to personalise their private spaces with pictures and favoured items. Where people were able to complete tasks independently, they were supported to do so. For example, 1 person told us how they were able to independently contact the out of hours health care services and were confident in doing this if they had to. One person told us they had become more independent with their shopping. They had previously stayed at home whilst their support worker did this. They now accompanied staff and would push the trolley; this enabled them to be more involved in choosing their shopping. People were supported to take part in activities they enjoyed. Overall, feedback from people and their relatives was positive and indicated that activities included, walks, support with employment, shopping, bowling, swimming, wheelchair ice skating, attending the gym and indoor climbing centres and trips to the beach. People told us they were supported to maintain relationships with those that were important to them. In 1 of the homes where people lived, a member of staff had arranged a mince pie get together for people and relatives which was enjoyed. Staff accommodated people’s religious preferences. For example, 2 people told us they were supported to attend church when they wanted to.

Staff were able to demonstrate an understanding of person centred care. For example, 1 staff member said, “The most rewarding aspect of my job is being able to support [People] in building and enhancing their independence, helping them to access the community, and ensuring their safety” and another told us the best part of their job was “Supporting clients to achieve new skills, working in the community and using outside services to improve their independence”. Staff were able to describe how they supported people to develop their independence and take part in activities that were meaningful to them. For example, 1 staff member told us how they supported a person to maintain their health by going to the gym regularly and going swimming and climbing and another told us, “We always provide 1-1 support to assist people to live independently by helping them with budgeting, paying bills, food shopping, menu planning, and medical appointments”. Staff told us people had access to activities and to the local community. Comments included, “We have 3 very different people to support they all have things they like to do individually but also get together to do things like go to the pub or out to visit local attractions” and “The person we look after accesses the community and as a team we manage to fulfil all her hobbies and needs. [Person] loves her sensory room, music, and lights, she goes swimming twice a week, bowling, comes food shopping with us, seaside once a week, she takes the train to sensory, we have a very full week”. A registered manager told us, “People supported by the [The service] are happy and receive support to participate in their local community such as clubs and sporting events, to grow in life skills such as cooking and finance awareness and bigger goals like going on holiday”.

We did not look at Responding to people’s immediate needs during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

We did not look at Workforce wellbeing and enablement during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.