Gentle Folk Community Care London

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 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 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.

The provider carried out a comprehensive initial assessment of people’s needs and wishes before offering to deliver care to them at home. This included meeting with the person and understanding what support they would like and how they would like it to be delivered. The provider ensured all the relevant people were involved in assessing and planning care plans including, any prospective new service user, next of kin where applicable, external health and social care professionals and the registered manager. People and their relatives confirmed they were involved in this process. Staff confirmed they received the full care plan and risk assessments before providing support, ensuring they understood how to meet the needs of people they supported.

Care plans and risk assessments were then developed by the registered manager based upon the assessment. We saw care plans in place which covered areas of need including, eating and drinking, communication and mobility.

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.

The provider was able to provide evidence-based care and treatment. Policies were in line with national good practice and care was given in a person-centred way. This was in line with the persons wishes, and they were involved in their assessment of need. Relative told us staff seemed more knowledgeable and better prepared during visits. They said, “Staff know what they’re doing as we have a live-in carer.”

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.

People were supported by managers and staff who worked well-together to deliver coordinated, consistent and safe care. Staff described strong teamwork and clear communication processes. Systems were in place to make sure information was shared in a timely manner by everyone involved in people’s care. For example, staff consistently handed over important information between care staff to ensure everyone remained up to date with peoples changing care needs and wishes.

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 received training in how to meet and appropriately manage people’s health care needs and conditions, for example moving and handling, and first aid.

Staff supported people to maintain their health and wellbeing. The managers assessed and planned for people’s healthcare needs. Staff completed training to understand these. Staff were aware how to follow peoples agreed health care routines including, those related to nutrition and hydration, and for how to respond to changes in a person’s health. Staff knew when people were unwell or in pain and ensured they liaised with the relevant health and medical care professionals and bodies as and when required.

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.

The provider had systems in place for monitoring the care provided. Daily records were kept of what support was provided on each shift, and these were reviewed by the registered manager. In addition, the registered manager remained actively involved in people’s care, regularly visiting people to monitor progress and ensure agreed outcomes were achieved.

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

People and relative told us they were involved in planning their care and support and were able to share their preferences for how they wished to receive care. One relative said, “Yes, we have a care plan.” Staff we spoke with said they always sought consent before providing care. They said people were encouraged to make their own choices and decisions about their care. At the time of this inspection, people using the service had capacity to make all decisions regarding their care. Staff completed training in MCA.