Archived: Hounslow and Ealing

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. This is the first assessment for this service. This key question has been rated good. This meant people’s outcomes were consistently good, and people’s feedback confirmed this.

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 assessed people’s needs and choices. They met with people and their relatives and obtained feedback from other professionals to make sure they had a good understanding of each person’s needs. Comments from people and their relatives included, “[The agency] did an assessment before they started giving care. I have not asked them to change anything”, “They sent someone from the office to do an assessment and showed me the care plan” and “They did an assessment first thing.” The assessments were used to create care plans which outlined people’s support needs, and the tasks staff should perform. These were regularly reviewed and updated. Care plans and assessments included information about people's background, communication needs and how they wanted to be cared for.

The provider ensured staff delivered evidence-based care. Staff were trained and had a range of information about best practice. The staff had undertaken training about caring for people with a learning disability and training about dementia. They had regular meetings and updates from the management team to understand about best practice. People and their relatives told us staff were well trained with comments which included, “The staff are well trained and very professional” and “The staff know what they are doing.” Staff told us they had undertaken different training courses which had been useful. They also explained they had shadowed experienced workers and could ask for information and advice if they were unsure. Comments from staff included, “I have had training and shadowing. This has been very valuable” and “The training was useful, and I enjoyed this.”

The registered manager told us they accessed additional training if a person had a particular need which was not covered in the regular training courses. They explained they would not take on the care package for anyone if they felt staff did not have the right skills to meet the person’s needs.

The provider had systems to help make sure staff communicated with each other. They held regular meetings and shared a range of written information. The staff confirmed this, telling us they shared information about people who they were caring for and procedures. They felt well informed and told us they could contact managers at any time to discuss the service. The management team liaised with other professionals when needed. For example, when they identified a change in someone’s needs or circumstances.

The provider supported people to stay healthy. They had assessed and recorded information about people’s healthcare conditions, signs of deterioration staff should be aware of, and any interventions people needed from the staff. The staff monitored people’s conditions and reported concerns to the managers, people’s relatives and/or other healthcare professionals. People and their relatives told us they trusted the staff to make sure they stayed healthy and well.

The provider monitored people’s wellbeing and outcomes. The staff kept records at each care visit. These were reviewed by managers to make sure care plans were being followed. The managers regularly met with people and their relatives and telephoned them for feedback about the service and to make sure care plans were relevant and being followed. People confirmed this and told us there were regular reviews of their care.

The provider ensured people consented to their care and treatment. People and their relatives met with the managers to develop care plans. Their choices and the way they communicated these were recorded. People were asked to consent to different aspects of their care and for information to be shared with other professionals when needed. They had signed records to show they consented. People confirmed staff asked for their consent at each care visit. The provider’s audits checked this always happened. Some people lacked the mental capacity to make some decisions about their care. This had been assessed and the provider consulted with their representatives and those who were important to them to make sure decisions were made in their best interests.