Beacon Home Care Services Limited Also known as Beacon Home Care Services Limited Penrith

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 newly registered 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 67 (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 management team completed an assessment of need before delivering care to people. This included areas such as people’s mobility, continence, and skin integrity needs. This information was then used to formulate the person’s final care plan. Initial care plans were reviewed after 6 weeks and thereafter 6 monthly unless required sooner.

Care plans contained peoples detailed histories and covered a holistic approach to assessment.

People were involved in the initial assessment of their needs and relatives confirmed the service communicated appropriately when needs changed or additional support was required.

The provider planned and delivered people’s care and treatment with them, including what was important and mattered to them. They did this in line with legislation and current evidence-based good practice and standards.

Whilst people and families confirmed staff were experienced and professional some told us their staff were not always fully trained in some aspects of care, meaning we could not be assured they always followed best practice guidelines, for example catheter bag changes. The management team took immediate steps to address this by confirming they have arranged additional training for all staff.

People and relatives also described staff as experienced and professional. Relatives supporting people living with dementia felt communication was handled appropriately and sensitively.

People’s nutrition and hydration preferences were identified and staff supported people with this, for example a person with a vegan diet.

The provider worked well across teams and services to support people.

Staff communicated important information about people’s needs and health through an electronic system.This system was monitored by the management team to ensureany important information was escalated where necessary.

Relatives also said staff were supportive during hospital admissions and discharge arrangements of their relatives.

Family members had access to their relatives’ daily notes if this had been agreed. This helped to keep them informed of daily needs and changes. The registered manager ensured families were informed of changes to care plans.

Staff told us that information was shared with them by management through supervisions and staff meetings.

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.

Staff supported people to access the community when appropriate for health appointments, for example staff identified that a person required a dentist appointment and were able to refer them and support them with the visit.

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.

People and their families were involved in agreeing their care and support needs and outcomes.

Care plans were reviewed regularly and adjusted where appropriate.

We found evidence that referrals were made to other people where appropriate, for example Speech and Language Therapists (SALT) following concerns raised by staff.

The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment, although these were not always recorded in care plans.

Daily care notes showed that consent was gained by staff before any tasks were completed, however some recording of people’s consent could be strengthened. The management team addressed this during the assessment and confirmed that additional training for staff on the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) would be given.

Several people said having the same carers regularly helped staff understand routines, preferences and personal habits. A family member explained that carers knew how to encourage their relative due to their understanding of dementia.