Carers Break Community Interest Company

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 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.

Assessment processes were comprehensive and identified and included people’s physical, medical and emotional needs. The assessment identified what and who were important to a person any communication needs. This helped staff understand people as individuals and deliver care in line with their wishes. Staff were informed of any changes to people’s care needs via the provider’s electronic App. This ensured any changes could be made and delivered in real time. We saw that assessments were regularly updated; feedback left by carers on the daily notes was checked and any actions required were dealt with. One professional told us, “People were able to receive care not just for one, two or three hours, but for longer periods enabling carers to better know people and give them the valuable continuity needed.” Care staff told us, “Office team initially assess and put the care plan together. When something changes it is revisited so is ever changing. They also report any changes.”

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.

Care staff were skilled and understood how to meet people’s individual needs and had a working knowledge of current best practice. One professional told us, “Staff are receptive to training, they are keen to attend and typically engage positively.” Some people had specific nutrition and hydration plans which followed guidance provided by healthcare professionals. Staff had information about the support people needed to eat and drink.

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.

The service engaged positively with people’s relatives and involved health care staff to ensure people’s care needs were met. Care staff were consistently complimentary stating, “There is always someone on the end of the phone and if they were busy, they would call straight back”, and “We receive uplifting emails thanking us as a team.” Professionals were highly complementary of the services’ collaborative approach and told us, “Carers Break delivers what is agreed and does so in a caring and respectful way” and “Leadership within the service has appeared stable and accessible, with a willingness to engage with partner organisations and respond constructively where issues or queries arise.” Staff felt supported by colleagues and managers and described a culture where teamwork was encouraged. One professional told us, “Staff are very supportive of each other, and staff feel able to ask for support without feeling judged.”

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.

The service always supported people to access health services when needed. Care staff were trained to report any changes in people’s needs, allowing the provider to respond appropriately to identified risks. The provider was able to support a person with their Christian faith by periodically attending church services. To facilitate this the provider built these visits into the weekly rota and sourced suitable staff that were very willing to transport the person to church and stay with them to ensure they could safely enjoy the time spent there. This had a positive impact on the persons wellbeing.

The provider did not always routinely monitor people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. They did not always ensure that outcomes were positive and consistent, or that they met both clinical expectations of people themselves.

Incidents had not always been effectively reviewed to check the outcomes were appropriate and if actions were needed to improve the care individuals received. A complaints, accidents and incidents log did not consistently reflect what, if any, actions had been taken to mitigate risk and improve people’s outcomes. As a result, opportunities to improve care and minimise future risks were sometimes missed.

Despite these shortfalls, there was evidence that people’s health was monitored. Staff understood the importance of reporting changes in people’s needs and escalating concerns to relevant healthcare professionals.

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

Staff understood the need for consent before providing care. We observed staff asking people how they wanted to be supported and checking with them before providing care. Our observations confirmed staff respected people’s choices and decisions. One person explained they can “Choose where they go for the day and where to have a coffee.”