Leaf Somerset

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.This is the first assessment for this service. This key question has been rated outstanding. This meant services were tailored to meet the needs of individuals and delivered to ensure flexibility, choice and continuity of care.

This service scored 89 (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 was exceptional at making 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. Care plans were person centred. They specifically detailed how staff should support people in a caring, consistent and safe way. Care and support was holistic and focused on what people could achieve. The service’s approach to understanding the person and providing a constant staff team meant there were many examples of the progress people made. Newsletters and regular reports detailed people’s accomplishments. These also explored areas where things were not working so well and what changes could be made to people’s support to address this. A health and social care professional said, “There has been a significant improvement for this individual which I would say exceeded what myself and Leaf Somerset would have thought possible.” People were supported in activities of their choice. Strategies were built upon to gradually introduce new activities or experiences, so people were not overwhelmed. Staff told us that with the right support, things that other people enjoy with ease could be accessed. For example, 1 person had been supported to ride on a festive train. Another family member told us about an overnight trip away their relative experienced, “Staff go the extra mile. It took a lot of planning and all risk assessments were done. [Name of person} had a lovely time.” A health and social care professional said, “I was so impressed with their support.”

People’s care and support was regularly reviewed with staff and involved those close to them, such as family members. Communication was open and transparent. Staff valued being able to directly input into these meetings. This enabled improvements to people’s support to be made when needed and for new ideas to be discussed. A staff member said, “We have regular team meetings for each individual and an update of how things are going. Anything we can do to help that and improve. Those regular team meetings help a lot, it gets the team together as well. It is definitely a positive place.”

The provider had an exceptional understanding of the diverse health and care needs of people and their local communities, so care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity. The service worked with other professionals to ensure continuity of care. Regular multi-disciplinary meetings occurred, which involved people’s families to ensure information was shared and everyone had an opportunity to input. Where challenges in care and support arose, these were identified promptly and shared with relevant others to engage support. This included both external professionals and specialist internal staff who focused on positive behaviour support. This meant care was regularly reviewed and adapted to ensure it met people’s assessed needs.

People were truly recognised as individuals and valued in what they were already and could potentially achieve. People were supported by a consistent staff team who knew them well and had received bespoke training in their individual support needs. People had the tools to ensure they could communicate with staff and express their choices and wishes. Care plans gave specific information about how people communicated. Staff supported people at their own pace to be motivated to lead full and active lives. People were supported in engaging in new day to day skills and working towards their individual aspirations and goals. For example, going on holiday and being involved in food preparation.

The provider was exceptional at developing appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs. Information was provided in formats accessible to people and in line with their preferred communication needs. Such as social stories, choice boards, pictures and videos. Creative ways had been explored for providing information, including the use of technology. This enabled people to understand and make choices in their care. For example, by being able to effectively explain a visit to the hospital using a social story. This meant the person knew what was happening and was reassured. A health and social care professional said, “Leaf Somerset has demonstrated a high standard of support, incorporating social stories to enhance understanding and deliver person-centred care.”

Care plans described people’s communication needs. This gave clear details to staff about words or phrases to specifically use or avoid. For example, for 1 person could become frustrated if they were not understood. Communication tools were used to ensure staff could be responsive to the person’s needs.

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. A complaints policy was available. Complaints and concerns were reported, recorded and investigated. An overview of complaint, compliments and concerns ensured responses were given and information was shared with the staff team as appropriate. A health and social care professional told us when concerns were raised these were addressed, “Promptly and professionally.”

The service had received a number of compliments. For example, an external professional had complimented the provider and staff on the amount of activities in the community 1 person was now involved with.

The provider made sure that people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it. Care plans detailed how to support people. This included information about sensory and communication needs to enable reasonable adjustments to be made. People were supported by staff who knew them well and could effectively support them to access care.

Staff and leaders were innovative in how they listened to information about people who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes. Staff and leaders actively used this information to provide exceptionally tailored care, support and treatment in response to this. The service was aware people they supported were vulnerable to poorer outcomes in areas such as education and health. Systems in place such as gathering information through assessments, working in partnership with families and professionals and ensuring bespoke training was provided for staff meant the service could positively support people with improved outcomes in their care. The service focused supporting people in a person centred away to enable them to be able to participate in positive experiences. Individual outcomes were regularly monitored through reviews and meetings, involving a multi-disciplinary team. Ensuring people had individual ways to communicate and express themselves meant the service could monitor the quality of the persons experience. A family member said, “I am so grateful, their support has been massive and they have changed our lives.”

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. No one currently using the service was on end of life care. People’s future and end of life wishes had been considered if people and their families wished to. The service actively supported people towards greater independence and to have less care interventions where possible.