Springfield Healthcare (Sheffield)

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 requires improvement.

This meant the effectiveness of people’s care, treatment and support did not always achieve good outcomes or was inconsistent.

This service scored 58 (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. Assessments were completed prior to support commencing and information collated transferred through to care plans. For some people who transferred from other providers some information was not provided at the point of transfer, and the provider was still in the process of collating this information. This was impacting on the detail of some care records including around capacity and communication or areas where support was not provided but staff may need to know. For example, one person had information in their assessment regarding difficulties with communication but limited information to guide staff on the support they needed to communicate effectively. We asked the provider to prioritise these care records and set a deadline for completion.

The provider 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. However, some care plans and risk assessments did not always contain enough information to guide staff on how to support with all identified support needs including nutrition or some health conditions or areas where direct support was not given but staff may need to know in an emergency. The provider agreed to action immediately to ensure all care records had all necessary information. Staff were supported through regular supervision and training to deliver care and support to people which was in line with good practice guidelines and standards. The provider worked positively with local partners to implement good practice and keep up to date with new ways of working.

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. We saw evidence of working with health professionals and partners to introduce new ways of working and new initiatives. This included Optimised Care which is a local initiative that promotes independence and dignity in adult care, focusing on using equipment and adaptations to support people in their own homes. Overall feedback from partners and professionals was positive regarding working in partnership. One professional told us, “Springfield are a proactive partner for us in the health and social care sector.”

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. Records showed that people had access to external professionals as required and where health concerns were noted these were followed up. However, more detail was required in some care records to guide staff on how to support people with ongoing conditions and how to promote and sustain good health. For example, one person's care plan lacked detail about how staff monitor their diabetes and what action should be taken in the event of an emergency. The provider reassured us that work was underway to update those care plans requiring more detailed information and guidance.

The provider routinely monitored people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it, and we saw evidence of some positive joint working to achieve good outcomes across the service. However, some care records did not provide sufficient information to allow clear oversight and monitoring of all outcomes including around goals and aspirations. We received reassurance from the provider that improvements were underway to address the shortfall in some care records. The provider had systems in place to gather feedback from people and relatives on their care and had systems in place to monitor support provided, including on site observations of staff competence. We received mixed feedback regarding review of care. One person told us, “They did come out to discuss my care plan, but they don’t do what we agreed.” A relative commented, “A manager came a couple of months ago to do a review and walk through the care plan with us. I think things improved after this visit and [person] now gets more consistent care.”

The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) provides a legal framework for making particular decisions on behalf of people who may lack the mental capacity to do so for themselves. The MCA requires that, as far as possible, people make their own decisions and are helped to do so when needed. Staff received training in the MCA and understood the importance of ensuring that people fully understood what they were consenting to and the importance of obtaining consent before care was delivered. One staff member told us, “I always ask the service user if they grant me permission and explain simply step-by-step how I’m going to help them. I have been trained on the mental capacity act.” Another staff commented, “I gain consent from service users by clearly explaining what I am doing, using simple and appropriate language, and checking that they understand and agree before any care or support is provided.” We discussed with the provider updating some records to include clearer, more detailed information on capacity and decision making.