Seco Support Swindon

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 outstanding. This meant people’s outcomes were consistently better than expected compared to similar services.

This service scored 88 (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.

We saw evidence of completed ‘transition plans’ which supported people to move effectively into the service. This included ensuring professional meetings were arranged, gathering information about people, developing person-specific interview questions, and creating bespoke training programmes based on people’s individual needs. There was a template for this document which included who was responsible for each action and target completion dates which allowed leaders to have effective oversight of the process.

Relatives spoke consistently positively about the transition process into the service. Relatives commented, “We met with one of the managers. We openly discussed [person] and how a past placement had failed to help. He felt confident Seco could help. As the process moved on, we met with the training officer, who prepares all the person specific training for the team. When we saw the information prepared, we were very impressed with the quality. We were also involved in the training as a meet and greet process”, and “[Person] has been given the opportunity to interview prospective staff when she felt able to, so has been part of the process. This was empowering for her.”

Other relatives commented, “There was a long and thorough transition into this setting, so my family member had already built relationships with the staff. They had the chance to get to know him and how the staff in his previous setting managed his care. There were lots of multidisciplinary team [MDT] meetings during the assessment and the Seco staff spent a lot of time in this setting observing and gradually getting more involved” and “The service manager works closely with officers in the Council’s social care team and regular assessments on my son’s care are undertaken.”

Staff demonstrated an exceptional understanding of people’s needs prior to them moving to the service. For example, one staff member told us, “We had to be really conscious not to overwhelm [person] with too many choices when they first moved in and had to make some choices for them. This is slowly improving and now [person] is supported to make their own choices around meals and activities.” This was in line with the person’s care and support plan.

Records demonstrated people’s needs were thoroughly assessed and considered. For example, one record stated, ‘[Person] requires a team of Support Workers who are carefully matched to her needs and preferences. To ensure consistency and flexibility in the service, it will be necessary to have a team of approximately 10 to 15 individuals. This will allow for sufficient staffing levels while accommodating varying schedules and availability. The team’s contracts will include a mix of full-time, part-time, and bank staff. It is important for bank workers to commit to regular shifts with [person], enabling them to build familiarity and trust, which are essential for effective relationship-building and support.”

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. They worked to develop evidence-based good practice and standards.

People received care which reflected good practice because staff worked closely with people, their families, and other professionals, and involved people in planning their own care.

Staff followed and implemented evidence-based approaches, including the Right Support, Right Care and Right Culture framework, to ensure people received safe and effective support. The registered manager was passionate about people living their lives in the way they chose and being free from unnecessary restrictions, which was reflected in staffs’ approach to people and the culture of the service.

The provider always worked well across teams and services to support people to achieve good outcomes.

All staff spoke positively about how they worked together. Comments from staff included, “I think this is an area of strength for Seco. We hold monthly team meetings, 3 monthly supervisions, use hand over forms. We also have a private group on [online system] to send updates and messages. Seco know communication is key. An example of this would be supporting a holiday for the person we support last year, his first in 12 years. This took input from MDT, family, team members and the person we support to create a successful holiday plan and implement it. The holiday was a great success and a huge positive achievement. Seco are open to input and feedback from others and know it is valuable. Another valuable relationship we are building is for the people we support with each other, supported via teams, with planning, structure and personalisation.” We saw pictures of the person being supported on holiday who was visibly happy.

Another staff member told us, “One example of working well together was when we had a team meeting to discuss a person’s hospital discharge. We talked about how important communication is for helping the person feel safe, as she can sometimes feel anxious but finds it difficult to express this. In the meeting it was highlighted that we should continue to promote the use of her communication aids, such as emotion cards and Picture Exchange Communication Symbols (PECS). Although staff were aware of these tools, the person we support was not engaging with them very well at first. As a team we agreed to keep prompting and encouraging their use consistently. Over time the person began to feel more confident using the aids with staff. We have since seen an improvement in her communication and a reduction in incidents.” We saw this person’s relative complimented the service, stating “[Person’s] team should be commended for how well they did in a situation created by [hospital] staff.'

Another example was shared of how the service advocated for a person to change their medicines through seeking support from a specialist mental health team. The manager explained how they had made at least 3 referrals which were not successful but eventually became involved after persistence from the staff.

The manager stated, ‘[The mental health team] made changes to [person’s] medication and now oversee this rather than the GP. Within days, [person] stopped spending all his time in the bathroom. He ate better, and his sleep pattern improved. [Person] steadily built on interactions with the team, and last year, was ready to go out to the local shop. Both interactions and outings are praised, no matter how short. Over time, [person’s] medication and mental health support was handed over to the recovery team.’

The person’s relative told us, “There was a difficult time for over two years when the prescribed medicines were given in inappropriate quantities, but the Seco Service manager was excellent and worked with us and the doctor to eventually get the right level of doses” and “Now his medicines are appropriate my son has been walking, swimming, and playing badminton and has joined a local choir.”

The provider supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to fully maximise their independence, choice and control. Staff supported people to live healthier lives and where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support.

People were supported to access health services such as dentists, opticians and GPs. Leaders ensured people had annual health checks with a doctor. Records demonstrated staff engaged with professionals when people needed support.

The manager said, “[Supporting healthy lives] starts right from the initial assessment plan, when this question has to be answered. Each person has a health plan, which is broad. It starts with diagnosis for each person and the presentation, details of all services, details of GP, dentist, optician, podiatrist and holistic therapist, such as music therapists. We discuss how to support people with personal care, general cleanliness, exercise, likes and dislikes, social requirements and needs.”

People and their relatives commended the service for how staff promoted people’s health and wellbeing. Comments included, “At the present, with the aid of a team leadership, [Person’s] life has improved dramatically from a year ago. When he didn’t even leave his bedroom. He now attends a choir in the community and goes shopping and takes exercise like swimming” and “My family member loves to be active and outdoors, the garden has been designed so they can use their scooter, and regular outdoor trips are planned where they can go for walks or bike riding activities. They’re encouraged with personal care and with meals.” There was information within people’s care plans about how to support them to live healthy lives and care records demonstrated staff were supporting people in line with their care plans.

The provider monitored all people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. They ensured that outcomes were positive and consistent, and that they fully met both clinical expectations and the expectations of people themselves.

The provider’s focus on person centred care, upholding people’s rights, and empowerment, meant that people consistently achieved good outcomes. For example, one person had not had access to their own kitchen in a previous setting. Since Seco began supporting this person, they now had free access to this.

Another person was not leaving the house, and now regularly goes out in the community. The person told us how they enjoyed going out and taking part in various groups. Staff also told us how they supported this person to attend a ‘rock choir’. Staff told us how they supported the person to perform at live events. The staff member said the person now performs on their own and staff are there to support if needed.

We reviewed compliments from people’s relatives which included, “It has been a stunning turnround over the past 12 months”, “Seeing [Person] as he is now is the best Christmas present I could ask for”, and “I am so grateful to you and the team for believing in him and bringing him back to such a lovely young man. Amazing!”

Other comments from relatives included, “At the present with the aid of a team leadership [person’s] life has improved dramatically from a year ago” and “There has been much positive progress for [person].”

Staff told us how they worked creatively to support people to achieve positive outcomes. One staff member told us how they supported people to achieve goals by breaking them down into smaller steps. For example, one person’s goal was to become more involved in food shopping. The staff member explained how they broke this down into supporting with writing a list for an online shop, visiting smaller shops and how the next step will be to visit a supermarket. The person’s family member told us, “The service manager has sat with [Person] to develop meal plans and a weekly shopping list. The team are also aware of [person’s diagnosis] and need to control and not be overwhelmed, so give time for [Person] to think about decisions. Also, they make good use of social stories that really support [Person’s] understanding and lessen her high levels of anxiety.”

Another relative told us, “[Outcomes] are improving all the time, with [person’s] communication getting better and better. She is now more comfortable with expressing her feelings and opinions. [Person] has an emotions thermometer to enable her to show staff how she feels.”

The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. Staff were observed asking people for their consent before supporting people.

Staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act and how to apply this in their roles. Comments from staff included, “The Mental Capacity Act protects adults who are vulnerable due to lacking capacity to make decisions regarding health, care, finances” and “We put this into practice by providing all information to make decisions in a way the person can understand. We ensure we are as least restrictive as possible at all times, for example, we have to lock away sharps, but these are locked away in the staff area which means the person can still freely access all areas of their kitchen without any restriction.”

Staff had completed training in the Mental Capacity Act.