Deep Heart Care Wiltshire

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.

At our last assessment we rated this key question requires improvement. At this assessment the rating has changed to 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.

The provider had not taken on any new packages since our last assessment of this quality statement. However, ongoing assessments of people’s needs were taking place and updates to care plans made where people’s needs had changed. People were involved in assessments and able to share their views on the care and support they wanted.

The provider did not always plan and deliver people’s care and treatment in line with current evidence-based good practice and standards. At our last assessment we found the management lacked knowledge on good practice and legislation. This meant they could not be assured people received care and support which met all legal regulations. Whilst we did find some improvement during this assessment, for example, the service is no longer in breach of some regulations, further improvement is required. For example, there was a lack of understanding amongst the management team around what incidents need to be referred as safeguarding. The provider had limited understanding of structured engagement with external learning and development. This meant the provider was focused on internal incidents and learning which reduced development opportunities for implementing best practice.

If people needed support with nutrition and hydration this was recorded in their care plans. Support provided ranged from prompting to preparing light meals. If people had specific needs in relation to eating and drinking this had been recorded. This included things like what cutlery people preferred.

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 told us they worked well with other staff to make sure people had the care visits required. Staff communicated with each other and contacted healthcare professionals if needed. People’s records demonstrated staff liaised with healthcare professionals about people’s health and care needs.

The provider had an electronic care planning system which had an area called a ‘communication log’. Staff recorded any contact with professionals or relatives here which gave an oversight of communication about people’s needs and care.

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.

Staff knew people well and had information about people’s health needs. Details of people’s GP or other healthcare professionals were recorded in care plans, so staff knew who to contact. People did not share any concerns about this quality statement and said staff would help them contact their GP if needed.

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.

People told us they were very happy with their care. The provider consistently encouraged people to share their views about their care so that care plans could be reviewed. People had consistent teams of staff who had time to get to know people’s needs. This meant if people’s needs changed, staff reported this to management in a timely way enabling changes to be made.

Daily care notes demonstrated staff were delivering care in accordance with peoples agreed and planned outcomes.

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

Staff had training on the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and understood the principles. People’s care records demonstrated staff were aware of the need to obtain consent to provide care and support. Staff had recorded they asked for consent prior to delivering any care. The provider had obtained information from relatives if they had lasting power of attorney (LPA). However, the provider had on 1 occasion waited for a decision from an LPA without first checking with the person. The principles of the MCA state staff should always assume capacity.