Archived: Deebeetom Ventures Ltd t/a New Living (Durham Office)

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 service met people’s needs. This is the first assessment for this service.

This key question has been rated requires improvement. This meant people’s needs were not always met.

This service scored 57 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Staff at the service 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. However, this was not always reflected in people’s care records. Further work was needed to ensure care plans included people’s preferences and guidance about how they wished and needed to be supported. Not all people and their relatives told us staff knew people’s needs. A person commented, “Not all staff know what they are doing, which makes my life more difficult.”

Staff understood the diverse health and care needs of people and their local communities, so care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice. However, improvements were needed to roster management to ensure continuity of care to people. This was being addressed by the registered manager as additional staff were being recruited. Care staff received information about people before they started providing care and support for them to understand people’s individual health and care needs. A staff member commented, “Before we start any care we read the care plan.”

The provider was aware of the Accessible Information Standard. They told us information could be made available in different formats, depending upon individual need. However, communication care plans required more detail and were not in place for some communication needs such as for visual impairment. The registered manager told us this would be addressed.

The provider made it easy for people to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. They involved people in decisions about their care and told them what had changed as a result. However, not all people told us they were listened to by staff. Their comments included, “It is really aggravating as staff don’t always listen” and “I don’t feel listened to at all, it is a real problem even I tell them [staff].” This was discussed with the registered manager who told us it would be addressed. The service had a system in place to seek feedback from people and their loved ones. Relatives told us they were aware of the complaint's procedure. A relative commented, “[Name] has the ability to complain if there was a problem.”

Staff at the service made sure that people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it. The service worked with other professionals to support people and to ensure they had any equipment they needed. Feedback was positive about the effectiveness of communication with the office and the on-call out of hours system when the office was closed. A relative commented, “I can always get in contact with someone at the agency, I normally speak to the same person.”

Staff and leaders actively listened to information about people who were most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes and tailored their care, support and treatment in response to this. People and their relatives did not report any concerns in relation to any experience of discrimination and inequality from the service. Staff worked to ensure reasonable adjustments were in place for everyone, so people did not experience discrimination because of their disability and needs. However, people’s care records did not all include information around people’s identity, things which were important to them, their wishes and relationships they wanted to maintain. The registered manager told us this would be addressed.

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 wishes for future care had been discussed, this was detailed within people’s care plans to ensure their wishes were recorded. We discussed that where people or their relatives did not want to discuss this with the service, that this was recorded.