- Homecare service
Patience Healthcare (Aapna) Ltd
Report from 3 November 2024 assessment
Contents
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
People were treated respectfully and with patience and dignity. People were listened to and their preferences met wherever possible in terms of continuity of care and matching with staff. The culture of the service was focused on meeting people’s care needs in a timely, person-centred way.
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.
Kindness, compassion and dignity
People had a core team of staff and had built trusting relationships with them as a result. They and their relatives relished the fact staff could draw on similar cultural references to them, and spoke a language they understood. One person said, “Our carer is fabulous.” Another said, “It's fantastic that the carer speaks [person’s] language. [Staff member] is excellent, and my [relative] understands them well. [Relative] finds it very hard to explain anything to different carers all the time, so this is a relief.”
Staff were able to speak in detail about each person’s needs and had evidently gained a good understanding of them, as well as a rapport. The registered manager and office staff also demonstrated a strong knowledge of people’s needs throughout the inspection.
Partners had experienced staff interactions with people that were patient and responsive. No external partners raised any concerns about the conduct of staff and had confidence in them.
Treating people as individuals
People enjoyed the choices and freedoms they expected; there were no unnecessary restrictions in place. People were able to continue doing the things they wanted to maintain their independence. For instance being helped to do their own shopping, and continuing to see family members.
Staff understood what small things made people have a better day and what was important to them. They communicated effectively and in ways that worked best for people who used the service.
Initial assessments of people’s needs took into account their personal, cultural, medical and emotional histories and were updated accordingly. These were reviewed periodically and informed by input from people, family members and professionals.
Independence, choice and control
People were happy with the level of independence the service afforded them. Some people were pleased to be receiving care in their own home rather than considering a residential service, and some experience improved outcomes, such as getting out and about more than previously. People felt comfortable expressing themselves.
Staff respected people’s independence and helped people access the things they wanted to do locally on a day-to-day basis.
The registered manager used questionnaires, home visits and phone calls to try and identify any additional needs or suggestions. They communicated regularly with people and families.
Responding to people’s immediate needs
People confirmed staff were there when needed to help them with their immediate care and support needs. They knew the out of hours phone number to call should they need help or have a query outside of this time.
Staff understood the importance of completing accurate daily records and escalated unexpected changes accordingly. The leadership team were always on-call if needed and staffing was well planned. Late changes to rotas were rare, and there had been no missed calls recently. Staff had set tasks to complete and record on the care system but also knew people well enough to look out for and identify additional immediate needs.
Workforce wellbeing and enablement
Staff felt included in the culture and well supported. They described a range of improvements they had noticed in the leadership of the service since they moved to this provider. They felt able to contribute ideas and raise concerns, and that these would be listened to openly and supportively.
The provider had in place a range of wellbeing policies and procedures to support staff, for instance their lone worker policy and enhanced rates of pay when staff were covering more distant postcodes. The provider also had plans such as a ‘walk and talk’ group for staff and social events.