Home Instead Senior Care

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 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.

Regular reviews of care plans were carried out to ensure they remained accurate and reflective of people’s needs. Relatives confirmed both they and their family members were actively involved in these reviews. One relative told us, “We have a care plan and I believe it gets updated when the care 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.

Staff received a range of training, including areas such as dementia care and manual handling. Staff told us the training was of good quality and confirmed they received a good induction when joining the service. Policies were up to date and aligned with current best practice guidance, supporting safe and effective care delivery. Staff told us that management was pro-active at supporting them with development and training for areas they felt would help them to provide care to people such as end of life.

We saw evidence of a joined-up approach between the service and health staff such as general practitioners (GPs) and community-based professionals. This ensured support was provided in a collaborative way, which focused on what was important to the person.

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 staff team worked together in a collaborative way. The service completed a comprehensive initial assessment with people to understand their wishes, needs and desired outcomes. This was shared with staff in a clear and transparent way, so staff knew how best to support people. Staff we spoke with expressed they felt they worked well as a team and had a shared dedication for caring for people who use the service. Staff understood the process of working with other services and could demonstrate examples of this.

Staff told us the on-call system was always accessible, and they were confident they would be able to reach a senior member of staff should they need to.

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 supported people with their health and wellbeing, referring them to other services as necessary. Records evidenced referrals were made when needed for example to the GP and district nurses. People and their relatives raised no concerns regarding the provider in this area.

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.

People and their relatives expressed satisfaction with the care provided and felt staff monitored needs effectively. Care records confirmed documentation was detailed and person-centred. Robust processes were in place to ensure people’s needs were regularly monitored and reviewed. The registered manager routinely evaluated systems and processes within the service to identify opportunities for improvement.

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

The registered manager and staff demonstrated a clear understanding of the principles of consent, and this was appropriately documented within care records.

Peoples consent was actively and continuously sought. People, and their representatives as appropriate, were given appropriate information relating to decisions about the care they received. People who were unable to consent had a Mental Capacity Assessment and Best Interests Decision in place, involving those people important to the person.