Royal Mencap Society - Central Hampshire

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

Responsive – this means we looked for evidence that the provider met people’s needs.

At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good. This meant people’s needs were met through good organisation and delivery.

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 provider made sure people were at the centre of their care and treatment choices and they decided, in partnership with people, how to respond to any relevant changes in people’s needs.

Relatives we spoke with were positive about staff. Shadowing was in place for staff to better understand people’s person-centred care needs and could be increased if needed. Adjustments to people’s hours were made where possible to suit when their requirements had changed. Extra support was given, where appropriate and person-centred for that person.

Care and support plans contained guidance for staff around personalised approaches when supporting people with risk management, cultural, religious and spiritual needs to enable them to deliver person-centred care. This ensured people were able to receive personalised care.

Staff told us there had been positive outcomes around supporting people to become more independent with life skills such as cleaning, cooking or personal care. One staff we spoke with said person-centred care was, “Learning about them (people). So, they trust us and can talk to us.”

The provider understood the diverse health and care needs of people and their local communities, so care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity.

People experienced good continuity of care in relation to staffing, with relatives confirming this. Staff had regular people they supported and knew them well. The provider worked with professionals in the community to co-ordinate services to meet people’s needs. Rotas and staff teams were in line with commissioned hours. The registered manager would try to get these increased where people’s needs had changed or to give them better activity options. The service also had a good relationship with the day service people used and shared information as needed.

The provider supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs.

People’s communication needs were assessed and documented in their care and support plans. Each person also had a communication profile showing staff how best to understand what the person wants. Staff understood the importance of meeting people’s communication needs. They told us how they used simple language, visual prompts and gestures to support this.

Communication aids were available such as photos and pictures to support people to better understand the activities for their day and week ahead. Staff communicated appropriately in a way the person understood. Easy Read format was also available to support people.

The provider made it easy for people to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. Staff involved people in decisions about their care and told them what had changed as a result.

The provider had a complaints policy in place which documented how people’s complaints and concerns would be investigated and responded to. People and relatives were able to make complaints through email or telephone, although some preferred going through the staff supporting them. Relatives were satisfied how complaints were dealt. The registered manager told us they responded to complaints by picking up the phone to relatives rather than email to resolve the issue. The provider shared outcomes from complaints or feedback with staff through supervision or team meetings. This helped to promote learning and positive changes in line with people’s feedback.

The provider made sure that people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it.

The provider had equality and diversity policies in place. The provider had various equality and diversity training available, which would help to ensure staff understood the potential barriers to accessing care people may face and how they could be supported to overcome them. Staff we spoke with understood the need for aids and adaptations to support people’s independence. This helped to ensure people could access care and support when they needed, promoting equality and protecting their rights. The provider had an out of hours on-call system to support staff and people when needed.

Staff and leaders actively listened to information about people who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes and tailored their care, support and treatment in response to this.

There were policies and procedures in place to help identify people at risk of experiencing discrimination or inequality. Care and support plans and assessment processes reflected these factors had been taken into consideration in the planning and delivery of care. Staff had a good understanding of the equality act and the principles that underpin it. The registered manager told us the provider has training around equality. There were also groups within Mencap for staff such as women's group or LGBTQ+. Staff could join as an ally for LGBTQ+ to support their colleagues. The registered manager also said they treated people they support individually.

People were supported to plan for important life changes, so they could have enough time to make informed decisions about their future, including at the end of their life.

There was no-one receiving end of life care at the time of the inspection. Where relevant, people would have end of life care plans in place. Care plans would document any advanced arrangements and specific preferences around their care. Staff did not currently receive end of life training which would be beneficial if they were to support people with end-of-life care. Although staff we spoke with did have experience of providing palliative care.

Staff told us they also supported people to plan for the future by helping them to set goals to achieve. These helped to build confidence in the person supported.