Victoria Home 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 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 the registered manager carried out an assessment of people’s needs prior to them starting care, however this was not effectively documented and available for review. It did not effectively cover all elements of a person’s individual preferences to ensure this was included in their care plan. The registered manager was able to provide a template which they had previously used when carrying out assessment, which they tweaked to ensure all aspects of a person’s needs were covered and reintroduced.

People indicated staff knew them and understood their needs and the issue identified with the assessment process had not resulted in a negative impact in people’s care and support.

The provider discussed people's health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them; however, this was not always clearly reflected within care planning documentation. We found some care plans lacked sufficient information to guide staff in responding to specific health conditions and associated risks. For example, where people were living with epilepsy, care plans did not always describe the types of seizures a person may experience or provide clear guidance on when emergency medical support should be sought.

This meant there was a risk that important information about people's assessed needs was not consistently recorded and readily available to staff. However, despite these recording shortfalls, staff we spoke with demonstrated a good understanding of people's individual needs and risks. Staff were able to explain the signs and symptoms they would monitor and the actions they would take to keep people safe, including when concerns should be escalated to healthcare professionals. This provided assurance that people received appropriate support, although improvements were needed to ensure care plans consistently contained comprehensive and person-centred information.

Staff, teams and external professionals worked collaboratively to support people and help achieve positive outcomes. Staff communicated effectively with each other and used team meetings to exchange information which helped ensure people received consistent and coordinated care. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities and knew when to seek advice or involve other professionals to meet people's changing needs.

Staff worked in partnership with relatives, healthcare professionals and other services to support people's health and wellbeing. People and relatives spoke positively about communication from the service and even people who had not required support from external professionals felt assured that this support would be available should they need it. One person said, “I think they [staff] would definitely get onto it and arrange something for me, I have confidence in them to do that, I wouldn’t worry about it.”

The provider supported people to manage their health and wellbeing in ways that promoted their independence, choice and control. People were encouraged and supported to pursue activities that were important to them, helping them maintain meaningful and active lives.

We saw evidence that staff provided support to access the local community and attend appointments. One person told us, “They [staff] help me arrange appointments. They come with me.” We spoke with staff, one said, “For social activities we have a plan in place to support [name] to access community activities they enjoy like going to pub and local shops.”

This support enabled people to develop skills, maintain social connections and their health and achieve outcomes that mattered to them.

The provider did not always routinely monitor people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. While there was no evidence of the registered manager monitoring people’s care, they spent time providing direct support, knew people well and ensured that outcomes were positive and met both clinical expectations and the expectations of people themselves.

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

People understood they had a right to complain, and the provider gave people a copy of the complaints procedure when their care commenced. People also knew who to contact, one person said, “[Registered manager] said to me if there are any problems let me know. I know if anything’s not right I can contact them and they are always contactable”

Staff understood people’s rights and sought consent when supporting people. Capacity and consent was considered and recorded in people’s care plans.