MindOf

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

We rated responsive as Good because:

The service went over and above to offer an individualised and holistic service to meet patient’s needs.

The service had developed an innovative and bespoke programme to help treat patients who were diagnosed with autism, Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) and other social difficulties.

Patient’s were able to access care and treatment from the service in a timely manner and flexible appointments were offered.

The service had an open culture where patients could feedback, and complaints were taken seriously and investigated appropriately

This service scored 79 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The service always held people at the centre of its care and treatment approach. It organised and offered individualised services to meet patients’ needs and had taken steps to develop its service based on identified need. Staff took account of patient’s holistic needs and preferences and supported them accordingly.

The provider understood and tailored the service to meet the needs of their patients. The service went over and above to meet patients’ needs who presented with Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA). PDA is behavioural profile characterised by anxiety-driven avoidance of everyday demands. People with PDA can often feel trapped and overwhelmed with everyday tasks and this is often linked to autism and neurodivergence.

The service had recognised that there was a gap in evidenced-based aftercare support services for children and young people once they had received a diagnosis. As a result, the service had introduced a bespoke programme called MindOf PEERS to help treat patients who had social difficulties including those with diagnoses of Autism(including PDA), ADHD and other social communication difficulties. Staff had completed training in the Programme for Education and Enrichment of relational skills (PEERS).

The MindOf PEERs programme helped children, young people and parents develop real-life tools and skills for peer relationships, navigating social situations, and managing challenges. The programme helped young people and children strengthen their social communication, confidence and emotional wellbeing. It was aimed at children and young people across all developmental stages, such as primary school, secondary school and post 18. It was a 12-week course, led by experienced clinicians in a small group setting, covering 14 modules, with homework assigned. Topics including managing low social confidence and how to manage bullying at school. Parents and carers were also part of this course and received separate PEER led sessions from their child.

The service had subsidised this course so that families of all different economic and social backgrounds could attend. Staff and patients, and parents gave overwhelmingly positive feedback after completing the PEERS programme. From the 50 responses received, 100% of parents would recommend this programme to other families. Parents commented on the impact that this had on their child’s social skills, noticing that their child’s anxiety had reduced and confidence had increased. Young people commented on the positive peer buddy support and social engagement aspect of the programme. The service had planned to introduce a post peers social support group to help further develop social networks of peers within the same age range.

Parents and young people were able to use the providers website to learn more information about this course and to book on to this course.

In all care provided, the service ensured that children and young people’s holistic and individual needs were met. For example, a young person who was due to start university was offered further therapy sessions whilst they were going through a transition period, as staff recognised this may be beneficial. The service had also arranged emergency prescriptions for patients who were unable to get these through their GPs.

The service had a speech and language therapist (SALT) to assess children and young people’s language skills, communication skills and social skills. They worked closely with schools to ensure that care was joined up. The SALT also offered parents support, information and advice, such as advice on parenting interventions and one to one therapy sessions. The SALT also planned to deliver learning sessions to staff within the service.

The service responded promptly and flexibly to any requests for appointments and offered home visits, evening and weekend appointments.

The staff team discussed new patients in the daily stand-up meeting. Complex patient cases were discussed in a weekly case clinic, where staff used a psychological formulation approach to decide how to best meet that patient’s needs. This included consideration of the wider family dynamics and how this could affect this young person or child.

Reasonable adjustments had been made so that people in vulnerable circumstances could access and use services on an equal basis to others. Staff visited children and young people in their home environment if they were unable to visit the office for an appointment.

The service had some links with local charities and could signpost children and families that needed support with financial circumstances.

The service was inclusive and took account of patients’ individual needs and preferences. Staff made reasonable adjustments to help patients access services. If needed, they gathered information promptly, to co-ordinated care with other services and providers.

The service gave patients timely support and information about what the service offered, care and treatment. Staff provided parents and young people with leaflets about different medicines and medical conditions, such as ADHD medicines. The service had a welcome leaflet which detailed important information, such as what to expect from the service, how to access the service, safeguarding, data protection and information about the team and how to make a complaint. This leaflet was adapted for younger people and for children accessing the service.

Parents were provided with positive parenting information resources, including links for further reading. The service offered parents and young people an ADHD resource information pack, which included information on certain issues such as starting secondary school.

The service had a website that provided information about the service as well as specific information about care pathways. Information was presented clearly and in a formal that young people and children could also access it.

Staff encouraged people to share feedback, ideas, and complaints, and involved them in decisions about their care. Complaints were handled in line with policy and staff could demonstrate learning and improvements based on patient feedback.

Parents told us they were given information about how to make a complaint or raise concerns. Information on how to make a complaint was provided in the patients and parent’s welcome leaflet. We saw that the service took complaints and concerns seriously and responded to them appropriately. The provider had a robust complaints process in place and families could use an external investigating body if they wished to complain about the service externally.

Parents told us they felt comfortable and confident in raising concerns and complaints directly with the registered manager. Staff treated patients who made complaints compassionately.

The service had received 1 formal complaint in the last 12 months, which was a disagreement between family members about information that was written in the report about a patient.

The service learned lessons from individual concerns, complaints and from analysis of trends. It acted as a result to improve the quality of care and complaints were reviewed in the weekly governance meetings and the manager reviewed complaints and incident logs.

Patients had timely and prompt access to initial assessment, test results, diagnosis and treatment. Parents told us that waiting times, delays and cancellations were minimal and managed appropriately. Parents commented that they had received prompt results from the cardiologist after their child had received an ECG.

The service did not have a waiting list. New patients waited for 4 weeks on average for their first appointment. New referrals were discussed by the whole team in the daily stand-up meetings.

Patients could make appointments either by calling the practice, sending an email or booking an appointment via their website. Patients could usually arrange appointments for when it suited them and their child. All patients confirmed the practice manager provided information about the costs of initial consultations and further treatments.

Referrals and transfers to other services were undertaken in a timely way, for example, the consultant psychiatrist could easily refer patients to a nearby children’s and adolescents mental health service if necessary.

If patients and parents were waiting for an ADHD assessment, they were advised to complete the Adult Self Report Scale (ASRS) (older teens/young people) and ADHD Rating Scale (for school aged children and young people), for ADHD. These are tools completed by the patient, parent and school prior to their appointment.

The provider understood their client group and feedback from parents about the care their child received was positive. The provider has systems in place to identify vulnerable individuals and worked with external agencies to manage any risks.

Staff used appropriate engagement and tools to collect and review patient feedback.

Staff supported parents and young people and children through creating personalised care plans to account for the patient’s needs, wishes and feelings. This included planning for their future, such as how to best support a child that was starting school.

Staff ensured all relevant healthcare professionals and other relevant bodies were involved in planning the care and treatment of patients with complex needs, such as school nurses, social workers and specialist education needs co-ordinators (SENCOs). The service had input into joint children’s educational, health and care plans (EHCP).

Once a patient was ready to leave the service, a letter was sent to them confirming their discharge and how to access future support if required. The sent a questionnaire to obtain feedback to parents and young people once they had exited the service.