South East Focus Care Limited

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• 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 the provider met people’s needs. This is the first assessment for this service. This key question has been rated 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 told us they had been involved in sharing information on their preferred personal care routines and levels of support they required from staff. They told us that care was carried out in line with their wishes and that staff had a good understanding of their needs. People’s care plans included information to reflect their physical, mental, emotional and social care needs. The provider regularly met with people to review their care plans. This helped to ensure staff were responsive to any changes to people’s needs. We reviewed 5 people’s care records covering a period of 4 weeks. These records reflected that care was carried out in line with guidance from people’s care plans. This consistent level of quality was reflective of people’s feedback about their care.

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 told us they received a good level of continuity in their staffing and care arrangements. They told us they were allocated small teams of staff, whom they had built positive working relationships with. People told us that care call timings were broadly consistent and met their needs. Senior staff had a good understanding of the service’s capacity and when and where additional packages of care could be accommodated. They told us how they considered the geographical area, breadth of needs and timings of potential care packages to ensure they fitted into existing care call rounds. The provider made referrals to professionals in response to people’s changing needs. This included referrals to community nursing teams and social workers to ensure there was a joined up and coordinated approach between different stakeholders involved in people’s care.

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

The provide had an understanding around the Accessible Information Standard and processes in place to ensure people’s communication needs were met. The Accessible Information Standard is a legal responsibility to ensure people receive information in a way they can understand it. The provider carried out assessments of people’s communication and sensory needs to identify any support or adjustments required. For example, one person required support to ensure their hearing aids were in good working order. This helped facilitate effective communication between the person and staff when planning and coordinating care. Information such as care rotas was available in different formats if required.

The provider made it easy for people to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. The provider involved people in decisions about their care and told them what had changed as a result.

People told us that senior staff were responsive to their feedback and acted quickly to address any concerns. The provider had policies in procedures in place around how to handle complaints or concerns. Records of complaints received reflected that the provider investigated concerns in line with their policy and informed people of the outcome as required. People told us they had regular contact with senior staff, who asked for feedback about their care and whether any changes were required. The provider also had formal systems in place to obtain people’s feedback. This included signposting to external care review websites and sending customer satisfaction surveys. Feedback from the most recent customer review survey reflected that people were happy with the overall quality of care, their level of involvement in the care and engagement levels with senior staff.

The provider made sure that people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it. People told us they were involved in all aspects of their care and staff respected their choices and preferences. The provider had policies and procedures around equality and diversity. Staff told us they had received training in equality and diversity. This helped to ensure they had awareness of people’s protected characteristics and the requirement for all people to receive fair and equal treatment.

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.

People told us they were treated fairly and did not suffer any discrimination or inequality in relation to their care. Senior staff told us people’s needs and preferences were assessed before the provider agreed to commence care services. This helped to ensure people’s needs could be met. People’s care plans contained information in relation to how their social, cultural and spiritual needs should be met.

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.

We received positive feedback from people around end-of-life care provided by staff. They told us that senior staff conducted discussions around future wishes in a caring and empathetic manner. People’s care plans included information about their future wishes and any advanced care decisions. Staff had received end of life care training and told us it was a privilege to support a person during these last days.