Radfield Home Care Guildford & Woking

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 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.

The provider made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them.

People’s needs were assessed prior to them moving into the service. Information shared during the assessment process was used to inform care planning and risk assessment. Relatives told us the service listened and reviewed their family members care plans regularly to make sure they were reflective of their current needs. One relative told us, “They do review things, in fact, they are coming tomorrow to talk about a few things as they’ve changed and some more information and discussion will be useful. They seem very on top of things.”

People’s care plans were easy to follow and contained information in areas including people’s mobility, personal care, health and communication needs. The management team were clear the priority was ensuring people were able to live the life of their choosing and prioritised gathering information from people and their relatives during the assessment process. The manager told us, “It needs to be about the person right from the beginning. I want to lead assessments so everyone is aware of who I am, that we want the best for them and that they can come to me with anything.”

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.

People’s care was planned with them and their relatives to ensure it met their needs and preferences. Care plans were personalised and our discussions with staff showed they were aware of this information. Where advice and guidance had been shared by professionals this was clearly recorded in people’s care records for staff to follow.

The management team ensured they remained up to date with best practice and what local services were available. This information was used to ensure people were aware of local resources when making decisions about their health and social care needs and how services could be accessed.

The provider worked well across teams and services to support people. They made sure people only needed to tell their story once by sharing their assessment of needs when people moved between different services.

Staff worked with a range of healthcare professionals to ensure people received the support they required. This included GP practices, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, Hospital at Home and the community nursing team. Referrals were made appropriately when followed through as required.

Staff told us communication from the management team and between staff was good. One staff member told us, “We are always updated and have [systems] where we can share information if we notice anything.”

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.

The provider had implemented a number of initiatives to support people in maintaining their independence, health and well-being. The management team told us they had recognised people could experience a loss of mobility, weight loss, develop skin integrity concerns and lose confidence when admitted to hospital due to ill health. To counteract these concerns the provider offered to continue providing people’s care visits whilst they were in hospital. This meant staff who knew people well could offer 1-1 support to encourage people to eat to eat well and to mobilise. This continuity of care also supported people’s well-being and self-esteem, meant they had greater control over their care and in maintaining their independence and reduced the need for additional support upon discharge.

Staff were passionate about supporting people to live healthier lives and maintain their independence. By working closely with the Occupational Therapy team staff had encouraged one person to change their seating position regularly. This had increased their core strength and helped to minimise the high risk of pressure sores. Staff described how they had gradually built trust with the person when supporting them to reposition and told us how rewarding it had been to see the persons health improve.

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.

The management team and staff worked alongside people and their relatives to understand their wishes and how they would like their support to be provided. There was a clear emphasis on ensuring people received the support that was right for them. This included regular reviews of people’s health care needs, emotional wellbeing and their social needs.

Where people required the support of emergency services records showed staff acted immediately to keep the persons as safe as possible and summon help. Staff stayed with people until emergency services or family members could be with them in order to offer comfort and reassurance.

The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment.

Relatives told us that staff always asked for the person’s consent before supporting them with their care. One relative told us, “They always check and they chat about what they are doing the whole way through.” Staff members told us they understood their responsibilities in asking for people’s consent, “It’s just the right thing to do. We would always check they are happy for us to help them.”

The provider had systems in place to assess people’s capacity to make specific decisions where required. Where it was identified people may lack capacity, best interest decisions were recorded. Assessments and best interest decisions were clearly written and contained detailed information regarding the persons responses, previous wishes and known preferences. Family members were involved in the decision-making process where appropriate and least restrictive options were considered. People’s personal decisions were respected and staff worked with people to balance their choices with risks to their health and wellbeing.