Archived: Dale Care - South Tyneside (Homecare, Extra Care)

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 newly 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 71 (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.

Staff understood people’s needs well. One staff member said, “I always make time to listen to the service user and ask them a lot about themselves. Once rapport has been built, I maintain good rapport by continually showing an interest in their likes and dislikes and asking a lot of open-ended questions like how they feel on that particular day.”

We had a mixed response from people we spoke with, comments included, “We did have a care plan at the start but I haven’t had a review, the manager did come out to help when they were short staffed, but if you ring they just say, ‘we will look into it’ but you never hear back” and “They did a care plan when I started and came a few months ago to ask questions.”

The staff team 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. Staff ensured people’s needs were monitored and followed correct guidance. One staff member said, “During my visits I look for cues, to see if their needs have changed, any concerns are reported to management so their needs can be reassessed.”

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 well with external healthcare professionals such as GPs and community nursing services. Staff we spoke with said, “I have contacted nurses and GPs in regards to service users being unwell, then I have informed family and the office” and “As care workers we primarily only contact health care professionals in case of emergencies. Also, we communicate regularly with pharmacy companies to order prescriptions and 111 if unsure or have any uncertainties about medication administration.”

External healthcare professionals we spoke with said they had experienced an improvement with communication.

Staff 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. Staff ensured any identified deterioration of a person was acted on immediately. One staff member said, “I have contacted nurses and GPs in regard to service users being unwell then I have informed family and the office.” And “One person was not enjoying their food and losing their appetite, they said they did not like the meals offered, I took time to listen and called the office to report this. Since then, meals became more varied and the person’s appetite increased.”

The provider did not always routinely monitor people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. They did not always ensure that outcomes were positive and consistent, or that they met both clinical expectations and the expectations of people themselves. For example, one person needed their care call before a fixed appointment, and this was not always happening.

However, staff were dedicated to supporting people to receive positive outcomes and provided examples of how they monitored this.

There were processes in place to monitor and improve people’s outcomes. Care plans included people’s chosen outcomes, what they could do and what they wanted to achieve.

Staff told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. Staff understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act and associated codes of practice. They appropriately completed capacity assessments and ‘best interests’ decisions. One staff member said, “Capacity assessments include a person being able to make an informed decision for themselves, however if they do not have capacity to do this, act in a person’s best interest. However, capacity can fluctuate and making sure that the person is always given an option as people are allowed to make unwise decisions for themselves, still having capacity.”