Homecare Alliance Ltd

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.

The service regularly reviewed people’s care plans and at times of changing need. They worked with relevant partners to ensure people’s care was meeting their needs and all required support was available.

People were involved in any reviews or changes to their care plans alongside relatives, health and social care teams.

Staff kept clear visit records via a digital platform. This allowed supervisors to see the information remotely and track any changes in care delivered or people’s needs.

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.

People’s individual needs and preferences were prioritised alongside safe care. Healthcare teams told us the service followed their advice and escalated issues for further support appropriately.

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 service shared relevant information with partner agencies and relatives where there was consent to do so. Partners told us they received information to support with assessing changing needs and staff were responsive to their advice.

A partner agency told us, “They [the service] were requested to attend a recent review, which they did do so and collaborated in discussions.”

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 worked with people to help maintain and improve independence where possible. Staff supported people with tasks they were able to do and adapted to changing needs.

Nutrition and hydration were recorded and any changes were monitored. One person told us, “I need fresh food as part of my condition and they support me with this. They chop up the food and cook it in the way I need. They prompt me to eat too.”

Staff supported people to retain mobility where possible and supported people to walk safely in the community so they could continue to be physically active, or in the home where this was not possible.

A person told us, “The carer supports me by preparing fresh healthy meals and helps with walking around the flat together to get me moving.”

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.

Care plans included desired outcomes for people and the service provided support to achieve this.

Effective monitoring enabled staff to support people in requesting additions to their care packages where needed, both in relation to care received but also more holistic input outside of personal care arrangements. For example, the service supported people to request the addition of visits to local day centres for those with reduced social networks. This improved wellbeing by providing a wider variety of interactions and activities.

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

Consent was clearly recorded when the service first began supporting people as well as each time any care was provided.

For people who had been assessed to not have the capacity to consent to their care under The Mental Capacity Act 2005, this was clearly recorded. In such cases, the details of the person who had legal authority to consent on their behalf were clearly documented and they were consulted appropriately.