Aspirations Staffordshire

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 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.

Relatives told us staff knew people’s needs. One relative said, “They [Staff] look after him well and understand his needs.”

People’s individual care needs were reflected in their care documentation to enable staff to effectively support them.

People’s communication needs were considered and tailored to each person to enable them to make their needs understood and to promote inclusion.

Staff knew how to access people’s documentation on the provider’s electronic system and felt confident in doing so. A staff member told us, “I meet individuals cultural, social and religious needs by understanding their preferences through support plans and communication."

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.

The provider worked with people and other professionals around people’s care planning. People had specific care places in place to guide staff in supporting people with these needs. For example, 1 staff member told us, “Someone that we support has a SALT assessment and is on a minced and moist diet…”. The staff member continued to explain how SALT assessments helped them to ensure meals were prepared safely as per guidelines. A SALT assessment (Speech and Language Therapy assessment) is an evaluation carried out by an NHS Speech and Language Therapist to identify a person’s speech, language, communication, and/or eating and swallowing needs, and to determine what support or therapy may be required.

People’s preferences and goals were included in their plans. One person we spoke with told us how they were involved in interviewing new staff members to support them. This showed people were meaningfully involved in shaping their support.

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.

Records viewed confirmed the provider was working with others. However, 1 professional we spoke with felt improvement was needed around the provider’s communication and information sharing with the professional. They told us, “Some things are just not shared with us.” However, they went on to explain how things had improved since the registered manager had started, “[Registered manager] is based there a lot more now and it’s been really good.”

Staff worked with many different health and social care professionals and organisations to help people to receive the support they needed to achieve the outcomes they wanted. The provider communicated with relevant professionals and services to promote partnership working to make sure people’s needs were being met appropriately and effectively. One staff member told us, “We can call GPs, nurses etc. when needed. The team leader or manager will communicate with social workers and mental health teams usually.”

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.

People were supported to choose their meals and to maintain a diet that met their assessed needs. People we spoke with told us they were involved in their meal planning and cooking of meals. One person told us they liked baking and planned to do so that afternoon.

Most relatives told us they felt people were supported around their independence and choices. A relative told us, “During the [number] of years [person] has been there, [person’s] medical issues have been sorted out. Now their health has improved, [person] is going out for short visits.”

We saw records demonstrating the incorporation of health professional’s advice and recommendations in people’s care documentation. For example, 1 person who had a health diagnosis in relation to blood sugar levels was supported to manage their diet through staff offering choices and healthier food options.

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.

A person we spoke with was positive about the support they received to help them to take part in the different hobbies they enjoyed.

A staff member told us, “I have been supporting [person] to improve their verbal communication skills, which is working very well. [Person’s] self-esteem is improving to the point they will speak to their neighbours when encouraged to.”

The provider completed reviews and quality checks to make sure people were reaching their goals.

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

People’s ability to make decisions was considered and where appropriate, relevant Mental Capacity Act (MCA) assessments had been completed. Some people who were supported by the service had Community DoLS in place. For these people, this meant certain restrictions and restraint is allowed when supporting a person, however, this must be in the best interests of the person if they lack capacity to make the decision themselves, must be necessary and proportionate.

Staff supported people to make their own decisions, promoting their independence and control over their own lives. Staff told us they had received the training in this area and knew how to support people to make their own decisions. One staff member told us, “In daily practice we apply the MCA by supporting people to make their own choices whenever possible, giving them the information in a way they understand and respecting their decisions."