Short Term Assessment & Reablement Team (START - London Borough of Sutton)

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 good. At this assessment the rating has remained good. This meant people’s outcomes were consistently good, and people’s feedback confirmed this.

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’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them.

People, and others involved in their care, were involved in assessments and reviews of their care and support needs. One person told us, “I did have an assessment, and I told them what I needed.” A relative said, “[Family member] was discharged from the hospital at 8pm and START were here at home, doing the assessment at 8.30pm, and the carer came that night. We had a long sit down with [senior staff member] and then she came back after 3 weeks to reassess and check in with us and find out how [family member] was doing.”

People’s choices and preferences had been used to plan their care and support needs and were well understood by staff. The deputy manager told us, “There is a comprehensive plan in place for people and staff are required to read this. Carers then report back as they learn more about people and we change their plans, so they stay current.” A staff member said, “The support plans tell you what people want so people don’t have to repeat themselves. Like if they want coffee with milk or what milk they want with their cereal.”

Managers continually checked and reviewed the care and support people received, to make sure their needs were being met. The registered manager said, “The oversight of the senior case manager is paramount, and they are looking at the daily notes. The quality monitoring and spot checks are also important. The carers complete the progress reports so you can tell from these how well they know people.”

We did not look at Delivering evidence-based care and treatment during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at How staff, teams and services work together during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at Supporting people to live healthier lives during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at Monitoring and improving outcomes during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

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

People’s consent was sought before staff provided them with care and support. One person told us, “They (staff) are lovely. Really polite and kind and helpful and always ask what I want and if there is anything else they can do.” A relative said, “[Family member] always consents to any care or it isn’t done.”

Staff made sure people understood their rights around consent before supporting them. A staff member told us, “We do a lot of training around consent, and we always assume people have the right to consent and choose.”

The service was working within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005. The deputy manager told us, “We do assessments right from the start. Our carers do understand about seeking consent to care and respecting people’s capacity.”

Managers made sure, where people could not make decisions, their nominated representative had the appropriate legal authorisation to do so on their behalf, and in their best interests.