Agape Care Solutions

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

People’s care and support needs were assessed before they started to use the service. People’s care plans included their health, wellbeing and communication needs. Staff had access to information about people’s needs, through the providers electronic care planning system. Reviews of peoples care and support needs were completed regularly with people and their relatives if appropriate.

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.

People and relatives were involved in creating and reviewing care plans, to ensure care was provided in line with people’s wishes. This included supporting people with nutritional needs and medical conditions. Staff worked with health and social care professionals where required.

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.

Staff told us there was continuity of care as they worked together as a team and in partnership with professionals. A staff member said, “People receive consistent support from familiar staff and information is shared effectively between team members, during handovers and care notes.” Staff completed daily records, including detailed information about support provided and what people were able to do independently. Relatives said communication from staff was effective. A relative also told us how the provider had supported them and their family member at a meeting with another service. Health and social care professionals were complimentary about working with the service.

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

People were supported with referrals to healthcare professionals when required. Care plans contained information about people’s health and their wishes in the event emergency care was required. Relatives told us people were encouraged to be as independent as possible and their wishes and choices were respected. A relative said, “They are always aware of [person’s] fluids level, always thinking about healthy living.”

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.

The provider worked closely with healthcare professionals and staff monitored people’s health conditions to ensure positive outcomes for people. Staff told us they recorded and reported any concerns they identified. One relative told us, “The staff were able to notice [person’s] condition when they had an infection, which I personally would not be able to detect.”

The service did not always tell people about their rights around consent and did not always respect their rights when delivering care and treatment.

Relatives told us staff sought consent from people and explained things well. 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 Act requires that, as far as possible, people make their own decisions and are helped to do so when needed. When they lack mental capacity to make particular decisions, any made on their behalf must be in their best interests and as least restrictive as possible. Consent forms were in place for people who had capacity. However, the provider had not always assessed people’s capacity in relation to some decisions. This meant the provider had not always explored how the person could be supported to make decisions independently. In response to our feedback, the provider implemented an action plan to address these shortfalls.