12 Channel Lea

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.

At our last assessment we rated this key question Good. At this assessment the rating has remained Good. This meant people’s needs were met through good organisation and delivery.

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 made 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. People were actively involved in all decisions about their care, and had control over their own lives and what they wanted to do on a day to day level. Staff supported people in making their own choices. One the day of our visit one person returned from going out into the community independently, which was something they did most days and could confidently describe how they would navigate using public transport to different nearby towns. Management and staff took the time to get to know people and discuss their wishes with them. For example, the manager had introduced focused time where she would go out for a meal with people individually to get chance to talk to them and understand how they were in themselves. People’s care plans were up to date and described how staff should support them in a way that reflected their current physical and social needs.

The provider understood the diverse health and care needs of people and their local communities, so care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity. There was a strong and consistent team at the service, many of whom had worked with the people they supported for many years and knew their needs extremely well. All staff we spoke to were knowledgeable about the people they supported and their diverse needs. One staff member reflected, “We have a consistent team who know people’s needs well, which is really important for building connections and to understand people’s needs.”

The provider supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs. Although people could communicate verbally, there was strong and detailed guidance for how staff should communicate in a way that was personalised to them. This included how staff should communicate with people to reassure them if they were distressed, and how to empower people to make decisions about their care and day to day life. Staff were knowledgeable about this and knew how to communicate with people in a way they could understand and involved them in their own care as equals. We saw easy read information was displayed including around safeguarding, and staff supported one person with easy read guidance around the role of CQC ahead of us speaking to them as part of our inspection.

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. There were monthly key worker meetings for all people which gave them an opportunity to discuss their care and what they wanted to achieve from it. People and their representatives were actively engaged in reviews of their care and in making decisions, to ensure they were at the heart of these and care continued to meet their expectations. People knew how to raise complaints and felt they would be listened to and respond to appropriately if they did. One relative told us, “I’ve not had to raise a complaint but know this would be treated seriously. I have access to my relatives care plan and get chance to discuss this, including any changes.”

The provider made sure that people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it. Staff were knowledgeable about the barriers to people with a learning disability and autistic people in accessing health and care services, and worked in a person centred way to support people in overcoming those barriers and ensuring they received the support they needed. This included empowering people to feel safe and reassured when accessing health services by communicating information that reflected people’s needs. One person had previously had a significant fear of health services and would refuse treatment, so staff worked with them to explore what was driving this fear and explained the benefits of individual treatments to support them in making an informed decision in a way that was psychologically safe. One staff member explained, “Staff go to hospital with their person, and break down information into easy to understand chunks to enable them to be confident in what is happening and that they are safe. We explain to hospital staff how they need to communicate to ensure this person feels reassured and comfortable.”

Staff and leaders actively listened to information about people who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes and tailored their care, support and treatment in response to this. The service worked proactively to allow people to have the outcomes from their own care that were meaningful to them, and supported people in actively participating in wider society. All the people living at the service had strong relationships with their families, and people explained if they wanted to go and see their family this was possible at any time. Staff recognised the importance of these relationships and supported people in spending time with the people that mattered to them safely, such as by ensuring they had all the medications they needed if they were staying away. People were in control of their care and were empowered to choose how they wanted to spend their day, and make suggestions about the service they lived in. During our visit one person was having a healthy debate with management about why they felt the service needed a larger vehicle, and their opinion was valued with management positively encouraging them to expand on why they felt this was needed. One person had previously been more reluctant to take part in new activities, but staff members had positively challenged this and encouraged them to discover new interests and build new relationships. This person had recently been attending social events with others from services run by the provider, and had won a dancing competition which brought them great pride.

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. Staff worked sensitively with people to have open and informed conversations to plan for the future, such as around moving to living independently, around managing their future health needs as they grew older, and in exploring their wishes for how they wanted to be treated should their health deteriorated. There were detailed and person-centred end of life care plans which were regularly reviewed to ensure peoples wishes were recorded. For instance, football was important to one person and staff had worked with them to explore how they might like that to be reflected in their funeral, and another person enjoyed the music of Bob Marley and expressed they would like this to be played.