Annicare North

On this page

• Overview
• Assessing needs
• Delivering evidence-based care and treatment
• How staff, teams and services work together
• Supporting people to live healthier lives
• Monitoring and improving outcomes
• Consent to care and treatment

Effective – this means we looked for evidence that people’s care, treatment and support achieved good outcomes and promoted a good quality of life, based on best available evidence.

At our last assessment we rated this key question requires improvement. The provider was previously in breach of the legal regulation in relation to staffing. Improvements were found at this assessment and the provider was no longer in breach of this regulation. At this assessment the rating has changed to good. This meant people’s outcomes were consistently good, and people’s feedback confirmed this.

This service scored 71 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The provider made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them.

The provider had trained a number of staff to a higher level. These staff would always be the first staff to visit people in their own home. They were able to assess people’s individual needs and put in a temporary care plan to ensure all staff had the information needed to provide safe care.

Following the initial visit the provider had systems in place to fully assess a person’s needs and develop a care plan within 72 hours of them first receiving care.

The provider had a proactive and positive culture of safety, based on openness and honesty. Staff listened to concerns about safety and investigated and reported safety events. Lessons were learnt to continually identify and embed good practice.

Staff had received training in how to record incidents. All staff told us they would contact the office immediately to let them know about any incidents, as well as completing an incident form. We saw following incidents people’s care needs were reviewed to ensure emerging risks were taken into account in the care provided.

The provider worked well across teams and services to support people. They made sure people only needed to tell their story once by sharing their assessment of needs when people moved between different services.

Staff worked well together. Office staff had clear roles and understood how they all worked together to support safe care. Staff were confident of the support and training they received from office staff and were confident to contact them for guidance when needed. Staff worked collaboratively with health and social care professionals from other organisations.

The provider supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to maximise their independence, choice and control. Staff supported people to live healthier lives and where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support.

People told us staff supported their health. A relative said, “They noticed that [my family member] had a bad bedsore, so they rang me to contact the District Nurse for cream.” Staff told us how if they had any concerns over people’s health and well-being they contacted the office who would raise concerns with healthcare professionals. This meant people could be confident any issues with their health would be recognised and acted on.

The provider routinely monitored people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. They ensured that outcomes were positive and consistent, and that they met both clinical expectations and the expectations of people themselves.

One person told us, “Well, one of the carers noticed my legs were in a bit of a state and asked if they could take a photo so that they could tell the office. I said ‘of course’ and to be honest, that got the ball rolling, and the Community Nurse came straight round to sort my legs.” Staff told us the training they received supported them to identify when there were concerns with people’s health and care, so they were able to raise concerns appropriately.

The provider did not always tell people about their rights around consent and did not always respect their rights when delivering care and treatment.

People told us staff always asked for their consent before providing any care. A person told us, “Yes, they ask consent.” A relative told us how staff always asked for consent and how they respected the person’s choices. They said, “They [Staff] say ‘Is it okay to get you up and get you dressed, do you want to wear this or this?.’ Today she didn’t want to get out of bed, so they washed her in the bed.”

Restrictions, such as bedrails, were only used when put in place by health or social care professionals. However, care plans did not always record people’s abilities to make decisions for themselves when these restrictions were in place. The provider explained assessments had been completed by the health or social care professional who made the decision. They said they would ensure the decisions were fully documented in people’s care plans to ensure staff were fully aware of when they were acting in the person’s best interest.