Ariel Healthcare

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

We looked for evidence that staff involved people in decisions about their care and treatment and provided them advice and support. Staff regularly reviewed people’s care and worked with other services to achieve this.

At our last assessment in December 2017, we rated this key question as good. At this assessment, the rating remains the same.

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

Staff demonstrated an understanding of the additional support some people may need when attending their appointment such as requiring a translator or a longer appointment.

Staff checked people’s health, care, and wellbeing needs during health reviews. Clinical staff used templates when conducting care reviews to support the review of people’s wider health and wellbeing.

Staff could refer people with social needs or needs for lifestyle advice to a health coach at the service for support and signposting to relevant community services.

Information to support and raise awareness among carers was available both on a noticeboard in the waiting area and on the service’s website. The service had a designated carers champion who maintained a register of people identified as carers and provided them with support or signposting them to community services.

As part of our inspection, a number of set clinical record searches were undertaken remotely by a CQC GP specialist advisor. These searches were visible to the service.

Our clinical searches showed the service had effective systems to identify people with previously undiagnosed conditions, including diabetes and chronic kidney disease stage 3-5.

People on long term conditions, including chronic kidney disease stage 4 or 5 (more advanced stages) or an underactive thyroid, received necessary monitoring. People diagnosed with diabetes who had a HbA1c of 75mmol/mol or above received appropriate care and treatment. (A high average blood sugar level indicates poor diabetic control with increased risk of complications.)

However, the clinical search identified 68 people diagnosed with asthma who had been prescribed 2 or more rescue steroids (treatment for severe asthma episodes). We sampled and reviewed 5 records and found 4 of them did not receive follow-up care after acute exacerbations (worsening or significant increase in symptoms). The service reviewed the affected patients and explained they had already identified asthma care as an area of improvement in summer 2025 and employed a pharmacist with a special interest in asthma to review them but the outcome had not improved. Before the assessment, the service developed a new plan to manage this group of people by training existing clinical staff to support with asthma care. Meanwhile, the lead nurse followed up with people after acute asthma exacerbation to bridge the gaps.

The service 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.

Clinical staff had access to relevant national guidance, as well as local policies and guidelines and used this information to help ensure that people's needs were met. Staff told us they had protected time to complete continuous professional development to keep up to date with changes to care and treatment.

Our remote clinical searches showed people on medicines that required monitoring were effectively monitored. For example, those on disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and anti-hypertensive medicines. (DMARDs are medicines to reduce inflammation by calming down the immune system.)

People on combined oral contraceptive pills who had a history of venous thromboembolism (blood clotting in deep veins) were managed in line with national guidance. The searches identified 54 people who had atrial fibrillation (an irregular heart rhythm) with raised risk score for stroke but were not prescribed anti-coagulation (medicines that prevent blood clots). We sampled 5 records for review and all of them were managed appropriately.

The service 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 had a dedicated GP who led the complex care team to provide continuity of care for frail, complex or vulnerable people living in care homes and the community. The team visited the care homes at least once a week to address people’s needs.

The service had an urgent care team led by GPs and working with paramedics and nurse practitioners. The team focused on providing care and treatment for people with urgent or acute clinical needs.

The service supported people to live healthier lives and where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support.

The service identified people who may need extra support and directed them to relevant services. This included people in the last 12 months of their lives, people at risk of developing a long-term condition and those with caring responsibilities.

Staff supported national priorities and initiatives to improve population health, including tackling obesity. For example, the health coach took a holistic approach to get a better understanding of their needs and provide lifestyle advice or signposting them to appropriate community services for support.

The service 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.

National data (2023-2024) showed the service had achieved the 90% minimum uptake for all 5 indicators for childhood immunisations and 4 of them were above the 95% target recommended by the World Health Organization.

Latest national data (2024) showed that 70% of eligible people aged 25-49 years and 72% of eligible people aged 50-64 years had received cervical screening, which was below the national target of 80%. The service implemented measures to address this. The service completed dedicated cervical screening clinic on Saturdays to provide extended access for people who cannot attend during routine opening hours. Clinicians promoted and offered cervical screening opportunistically during relevant consultations. Two nurses had completed cervical screening training recently which increased the capacity of the service. The latest unverified data from the service showed the uptake had improved to 80% for 50-64 age group but remained the same at 70% for 25-49 age group. With the aim of improve engagement with the patient population of historically low uptake, the service recently joined a new self-sampling pilot cervical screening programme which allowed the targeted people to take their own samples at home.

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

Clinicians understood the requirements of legislation and guidance when considering consent and decision making. Clinicians supported patients to make decisions. Where appropriate, they assessed and recorded a patient’s mental capacity to make a decision.

We reviewed Do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions for 5 people and found they were appropriate and were made in line with relevant legislation.

People did not raise any concerns regarding the service seeking their consent to care and treatment.