Gentle Folk Community Care

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. The people who used the service, and their relatives, told us this. One relative said, “There is a care plan and I was involved. There has been a lot of discussions and regular reviews.” Another relative gave us an example of how the service positively responded when their family member’s needs changed. We saw from the care records we viewed that they reflected people’s experiences in ensuring they received person-centred 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. The provider told us they only delivered care to the people whose needs they knew they could meet and were careful to ensure that. We saw that staff had received training in the topics that may affect the group of people the service was supporting and people told us staff were effective at meeting and understanding their needs. One health and social care professional who provided us with feedback gave us examples of where the service had excelled at flexible, adaptable working to meet the needs of people and ensure their care was continuous and effective.

The provider supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs. People’s communication needs had been assessed and we saw that they were provided with information on the service to help them make decisions and choices. The provider confirmed information was available in different formats to meet people’s individual needs.

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 told us they were given opportunities to provide regular feedback and the records we viewed confirmed this. For example, regular care reviews were completed as were questionnaires. We saw that these had been analysed with actions plans in place to drive improvement. Whilst the people we spoke with told us they had no reason to raise concerns, they told us they would feel comfortable in doing so in the knowledge they would be listened to and their concerns addressed.

The provider made sure that people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it. People received care from the same group of staff who met their needs and at a time that suited them. Whilst people told us they had not experienced any missed calls, some did state they occasionally had late calls but that this did not impact on the care they received. Staff told us they were given enough time to meet people needs in an unrushed manner and that travel time between people was adequate.

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. We received no concerns from people in relation to how the service supported equality and we saw that staff had received training in equality and diversity.

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. At the time of the inspection, no one required end of life care and the provider was delivering care to people with less complex needs. However, staff had received training in end of life care and the provider told us that should any of the people who used the service require this type of support, their needs would be thoroughly assessed and care delivered as needed.