Way Ahead Care LTD

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 provider involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. This is the first assessment for this service at their new registered address. 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.

Staff treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity.

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 management team and staff treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity.

Staff told us about the importance of building relationships with people. One staff member told us, “To give the best possible care, person centred, respecting, empathy, dignity and communication. I feel passionate about my job” and “We at Way Ahead, care that your nearest and dearest are treated with respect and dignity. We care that they are happy and safe. We care that they are completely satisfied with the service we provide.”

People overall spoke positively about the staff who supported them. Comments included, “They are nice to me, and they seem caring people. Nothing has ever happened that I was not happy with,” “They are all caring and they are all my favourites. They just are so lovely and like a family. I cannot say enough nice words about them all. I am very grateful for them and the help they give me” and “They are kind to me, although I don’t always have the same regular carers, so they don’t really get to know me that well, but they do their best. They are kind to me, and I get on well with them.”

All staff had completed training about caring for people with a learning disability and autistic people. This training helped them to have the right skills and knowledge to provide safe, compassionate and informed care.

The management team and staff treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. A staff member told us, “Not everyone is the same, we do different care based on the service user’s needs.” Another said, “To keep people in their own environment with the care they need to keep going with their health problems, individual care for individual people.”

The provider’s staff allocation system tried to ensure people had visits at a time that suited them, within a 30-minute window, and staff were appropriately matched to people who received care.

People were supported to maintain their independence and to make choices about their care. People and relatives told us their family member was supported to maintain their independence in relation to daily tasks and received support from staff when required. Comments included, “They are absolutely brilliant, and I would not be where I am now if it wasn’t for them. That is all I want to tell you. They are amazing” and “I was involved with my care plan, and it is all done as it should be. They always ensure that I am warm enough when I have my shower and help me choose my clothes. I am happy with them all.”

One staff member told us how they supported people with their independence, “Encouraging individuals, with coming to social events, including them and asking them about their care needs, encouraging independence by doing tasks with service users instead of for them.”

The registered manager told us, as part of people’s care reviews they checked that visits were occurring at the times they preferred and had allocated a 30-minute window either side of visits to allow for any changes.

The provider listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. People in the extra care housing schemes had a monthly meeting to be kept informed and discuss anything they wanted to raise. People were asked to complete an annual satisfaction survey and satisfaction calls were undertaken monthly to 10% of people using the service.

The management team cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to deliver person-centred care.

The registered manager understood the importance of staff being supported and developed and was ensuring all staff received an annual appraisal and regular supervisions. They were working with staff to complete their own personal development plans.