Novus Care Limited - Surrey

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.
A relative told us, “Regular staff know my mother, talk to her about her needs and interests. She feels they know her and she knows them.”

People received care that was person‑centred and reflective of their individual routines, preferences, communication needs and life histories. Care plans were detailed and written in an accessible, first‑person style, setting out what mattered to people and how they wanted to be supported. A relative told us, “I had personal referral to Novus and (registered manager) and her staff were most helpful and welcoming from day 1 and have always responded quickly to my comments and changes of needs.”

Staff demonstrated a good understanding of people’s emotional needs, including the importance of reassurance, familiar routines and predictability. This helped staff provide consistent and compassionate care that met people’s individual needs. A member of staff told us of reading a person’s personal history, “I feel like it's important because it becomes easier to provide care for them because you get an understanding of how that person is and you end up giving them the person-centred care they deserve.”

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.
People with a range of care needs were supported by the service. Staff worked closely with visiting health and social care professionals to ensure support was tailored and met people’s individual needs.

The rotas were adjusted if needed with one person telling us, “They are adaptable, sometimes I have appointments and we change the time of the call.” People with a range of care needs were supported by the service. Staff worked closely with visiting health and social care professionals to ensure support was tailored and met people’s individual needs. This joint working helped ensure people received coordinated care and appropriate support in line with their assessed needs.

Leaders understood the diverse health and care needs of people and their local communities, so care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity. A member of staff told us, “We work closely with the GP and social workers. It all interlinks, especially in care and we all need a lot of different people to sort of help us as well. So it is really important to have the open communication.”

The provider supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs.

People told us they received a rota of calls in advance, so they knew which carer was going to attend and the time of the visit. One person told us, “I am given a planner, they are good with turning up. If there are a lot of road works, they ring if they are going to be later.” A relative told us, “They respond quickly to requests and provide information regularly.”

The provider gave people clear, up-to-date information in formats tailored to their individual needs, helping people to understand their care and feel informed and reassured about their support. Information could be made available in different font sizes and care plans could be accessed through the provider’s app. This helped ensure people could understand information in ways that worked best for them. One member of staff told us of how they supported people that may not be able to verbally communicate, “When we walk in, we show our badge, we can write stuff down, we can use some sign language, any simple sign language that you can use to communicate with the person.”

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.

People and relatives told us they felt listened to. Comments included, “It is very important to have good communication, they are coming to my home, my life, part of a big family, they come and they understand me”, “Every 3 or 6 months they come and go through everything to make sure it is as I want it. Any queries I get in touch with them” and “I would contact the office, and I feel confident that any complaint or query would be taken seriously.”

The provider gathered feedback from people who used the service through regular surveys. This gave people an opportunity to share their views and experiences of the care and support they received. The registered manager told us, “We have frequent sort of spot checks in people's homes. We check how [staff] are communicating with people, how they're approaching people, what they're doing, what they're not doing.”

Staff were also encouraged to share their views through staff surveys. We saw evidence that feedback was reviewed and used to inform actions and improvements. This demonstrated that leaders listened to feedback from people using the service and staff and used this to support continuous improvement. One member of staff told us, “I don't feel like a number. I feel like a person who has a voice and [registered manager] will ask our opinions for things. She will value our opinion and take what we say on board.”

The provider made sure that people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it.

Staff and leaders ensured that people received timely support and that any changes in people’s needs were responded to appropriately. We found no evidence of delays, barriers or inequality in people’s access to care. This helped ensure people received the support they needed when they needed it.

The registered manager told us, “We have [person] who likes to go to his church every Sunday. We arrange our visits around his needs on a Sunday, so we are there to be able to take him to church.”

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 provider had an equality and diversity policy in place, which set out their commitment to promoting fairness, inclusion and respect for people and staff. The registered manager told us, “We have local authority funded care and we have private care. Everybody receives what they need and the same service be it if they've got the money to pay for the care or they need support in paying for the care.”

Equality and diversity were also covered as part of staff induction training. This helped ensure staff understood their responsibilities in relation to respecting people’s protected characteristics and supporting inclusive, person‑centred care.

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.

Where people were receiving end‑of‑life care, individual end‑of‑life care plans were in place to guide staff and ensure care reflected people’s wishes and preferences. For people who were not at the end of their life, staff offered opportunities to discuss future care wishes. The registered manager told us they had packages of care for people who knew they were nearing end of life but did not want to stay in hospital. They told us, “We really value end of life [support] that we have because somebody's had a diagnosis or they've been in hospital and they desperately want to get home. It's not just about the person we're providing service to; it's about their next of kin and how that's valued.”