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GO Online: Inspection toolkit

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Kindness, compassion and dignity

It’s important that everybody working for your service provides high levels of kindness and compassion to the people they support, as well as others they engage with within your service and beyond.

The following film provides a summary of this area of inspection. It can help you and your teams learn about what will be inspected and what is important to demonstrate to deliver good or outstanding care.

Introducing Kindness, compassion and dignity

Duration 01 min 53 sec

The CQC will want to be assured that your service always treats people with kindness, compassion, dignity, and respect.

Kindness and compassion should be a part of everyday care. Your team should be given the time to not only perform their duties but to build relationships. Their care, compassion and empathy should be genuine, something which is only possible if you have recruited the right people, led by strong values.

You should consider how you match your team with the people they support and staff should be effective in how they communicate and ensure that they are understood. People’s privacy and confidentiality is important to them, so the CQC will want to know how you protect this.

The people you support will have many different emotional needs so it will be important to ensure your team can effectively respond to these. This may require additional training and support.

When interviewing people, the CQC inspectors will want to know how they are treated by staff. When speaking to your staff, they will want to discussion their experiences getting to know the people they support. In some care environments, the inspector will also want to observe how the staff interact with people. Managers may be asked about how you ensure the service is not a closed culture that can lead to harm.

In terms of documentation, the inspectors may choose to review:

  • care plans
  • records of compliments and complaints
  • staff training and induction
  • and Policies and procedures covering subjects such as privacy, dignity, data management.

In GO Online you will find recommendations, examples, and resources to help you meet this area of CQC inspection.

Watch the film here: https://vimeo.com/787631198

Resources

The practical resources below can help you to strengthen this area of CQC inspection. Use the filter to choose different types of resources or select based on related prompt.

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8 resource(s) found

Dignity in care: Communication

Resource creator: Social Care Institute of Excellence (scie)

This film shows how good communication is essential to ensure dignity in care. Examples include:

  • skills staff use to communicate with diverse populations
  • how technology can be used in communication
  • Film

Date published: August 2020


Dignity in Care Audit Tools

Resource creator: The National Dignity Council

The National Dignity Council have devised a number of questions that lead to a series of dignity audits based on the work done by other organisations and with their full permission.

The purpose of these audits is to provide the user with a tool to assess and evaluate whether a service has dignity and compassion at its heart. They cover a range of subjects including:

  • Dignity in everyday life
  • Dignity for those providing a Care/Health Support Service
  • Dignity for End of Life – Organisations
  • Dignity and Staff Development
  • Template
  • Website

Date published: December 2016


Dignity in Care: practical assistance (Film)

Resource creator: Social Care Institute of Excellence (scie)

Use this film to see how providing help with small tasks can prevent people from needing a high level of care.
The film shows some innovative schemes which demonstrate how practical assistance can:

  • help people maintain independence and dignity
  • keep people safe in their homes
  • reduce social isolation
  • Film

Date published: December 2015


Dignity in Care: pain management (Film)

Resource creator: Social Care Institute of Excellence (scie)

Use this film to explore how dignity is achieved in pain management. The film considers:

  • how import it is for care staff to spot people in pain and that levels vary for every individual
  • how people are not always able to communicate the pain they in
  • the role of alternative therapies in alleviating pain
  • Film

Date published: December 2015


Dignity in Care: personal hygiene (Film)

Resource creator: Social Care Institute of Excellence (scie)

Use this film to see how important it is to support people to maintain their personal hygiene. The film demonstrates how appearance and living environment can:

  • help people maintain independence and dignity
  • help people feel safe and comfortable
  • vary from person to person and needs to reflect the standards they want
  • Film

Date published: December 2015


Dignity in care: nutrition for older people in care homes

Resource creator: Social Care Institute of Excellence (scie)

Use this film to look at the role of good nutritional care and hydration for older people living in residential care. The film highlights:

  • the use of the Universal Screening Tool (MUST) as a way of identifying those at risk of malnutrition
  • the importance of food and mealtimes for older people and how the experience can be enhanced
  • the benefits of good hydration.
  • Film

Date published: December 2015


Dignity in Care: choice and control (Film)

Resource creator: Social Care Institute of Excellence (scie)

This film helps in understanding what staff can do to support people have choice and control in their lives. Factors include:

  • getting to know people so their needs and preferences are taken into account
  • supporting people to do things for themselves rather than doing things for them
  • being flexible about the way they support people
  • Film

Date published: December 2014


Code of Conduct

Resource creator: Skills for Care

The code of conduct is a set of standards that all working in adult social care should follow.​​ Free guidance is available from Skills for Care covering the following principles:

  • Be accountable by making sure you can answer for your actions or omissions.
  • Promote and uphold the privacy, dignity, rights, health and wellbeing of people who use health and care services and their carers at all times.
  • Work in collaboration with your colleagues to ensure the delivery of high quality, safe and compassionate healthcare, care and support
  • Communicate in an open and effective way to promote the health, safety and wellbeing of people who use health and care services and their carers.
  • Respect a person’s right to confidentiality.
  • Strive to improve the quality of healthcare, care and support through continuing professional development.
  • Uphold and promote equality, diversity and inclusion.
  • Guide

Date published: January 2013



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