Yorkshire and Humber Healthcare Alliance (West)

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 inspection 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 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People and, where appropriate, their relatives, were involved in the planning and delivery of people’s care needs. People’s medicinal, personal, emotional and social needs were set out in a detailed manner so staff could have a holistic understanding of people’s needs. People’s communication needs were comprehensively assessed and understood.

People had confidence in the staff and likewise, staff were confident in completing their roles. Staff received ongoing supervision and training support, with 2 ‘Train the Trainers’ available to do face to face mandatory training and refresher training when needed.

Clear arrangements were in place to check with people that their needs were well met and if any changes were needed.

Care records were suitably detailed and updated at the point of care being delivered by staff who used smartphones to update the electronic care records. People confirmed staff did this during their visit.

The provider’s use of electronic record keeping meant there was a clear history of the care people had received should there be any need to review it. Relatives were also able to access their loved one’s information. One said, “I can check the food my relative is given and also the medicines and this is done from far away using the app. This is really useful.”

The provider shared call time information with their local commissioner to ensure they were meeting their contractual obligations.

Staff worked well together to give people a consistent level of care. The provider engaged well with a range of external professionals, including attendance of provider forums for three different regions. This meant they were able to draw on areas of good practice ideas and also seek support from their peers.

People raised no concerns about staff continuity of staff and had confidence in how well they worked with each other.

External professionals did not raise any concerns and confirmed the registered manager worked well with them when needed. One told us, “They are consistent in care delivery and currently over-deliver on their commissioned time. When discussed with them, this is to support individuals in managing health appointments.” Another said, “We often do joint visits and they are knowledgeable and professional.”

The provider had a range of range of policies informed by good practice, which set out staff responsibilities.

Staff supported people to live healthier. The provider had identified that some staff needed support to understand cultural needs of food preparation following on from concerns from a few people. Overseas sponsored staff were provided with an introduction to British cultural. This was supported by a booklet about Life in the UK. The provider recognised the need to build on this piece of work and make it person-centred for each person.

Care plans were detailed regarding what, how and when people preferred their meals. People felt staff had the right amount of time to help them. One relative said, “The carers are really good and encourage mum to eat a little at a time as she has a swallowing difficulty. They are very patient.”

People were encouraged to remain independent and active.

People and relatives were happy with the service provided, and felt staff monitored people’s needs well. The registered manager stayed in touch with people and families regularly to ensure needs were well monitored. Staff confirmed they had sufficient time to update records and were clear on the expectation regarding leaving detailed, person-centred care notes. The registered manager regularly reviewed the systems and processes in the service to determine if improvements could be made. There were daily logs in place so staff and families could share pertinent information. This worked well for people and staff. One relative said, “The communication was excellent – always getting updates on my phone, and there was a communication book we used to update the carer and vice versa.” The registered manager planned to introduce electronic record keeping in the future but the systems in place at the time of inspection worked well.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control over their lives. Staff respected people’s independence, capacity and rights supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. People and families were involved in decisions about their care. Their specific decisions were well detailed in care planning.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) provides a legal framework for making particular decisions on behalf of people who may lack the mental capacity to do so for themselves. Staff had received training regarding the MCA and policies were in line with the principles of the MCA.