KEYFORT North East

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 inspection we rated this key question good. At this inspection the rating for this key question 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.

Staff made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them. People's needs were assessed before they received care from the service. The manager met with people and their relatives before packages of care started to ensure their needs could be met by the service. A relative commented, “At the start 2 people came to the house, both nurses responsible for the training. I explained what [Name]’s needs were, and we talked about what support was needed. It was a 2-way conversation, and the care plans were drafted from there.” Guidance on how to support people with specific needs was incorporated into ongoing assessment of needs. When needs changed, so did the assessment and the guidance for staff. A relative told us, “Over time, as our confidence has grown, we have asked more of the team and the care plan has been amended accordingly.”

Staff 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. Care plans were developed for each identified care need and staff had guidance on how to meet those needs. Staff applied learning effectively in line with best practice, which led to good outcomes for people and supported a better quality of life. A staff member told us, “I visit all of the cases that have nursing elements so that I can monitor progress, needs, preferences and ensure all training and competencies reflect their current baseline. I use a nursing review document to collect this and amend training and care plans as needed.” People were supported with their nutrition and hydration where required. A person commented, “I love my food, and I will say what I want and take the lead on preparing food. It’s a joint effort preparing food.”

Staff at the service worked well across teams and services to support people. A professional commented, “When I make contact with Keyfort, staff have always been responsive in a timely manner and have provided any information I have requested.” Staff 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 systems in place for staff to communicate with each other which enabled them to effectively deliver people’s care and support. Staff made timely referrals and worked well with other agencies to ensure people's treatment needs were met. A relative told us, “We had multidisciplinary team meetings about what Keyfort would offer. There was a choice of interviewing numerous members of staff to see who would suit [Name] best.”

Staff at the service supported people to live healthier lives and where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support. Records showed people received regular health checks, and included any specialist advice and guidance, that had been obtained where people had additional support needs, such as, from the GP, or district nursing service. Staff had the knowledge to monitor and identify a deterioration in a person’s health. A relative commented, “In the case of an emergency staff notify me and phone the community nurses and they will call an ambulance. It’s happened once.”

Staff routinely monitored people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. They ensured outcomes were positive and consistent, and that they met both clinical expectations and the expectations of people themselves. A relative told us, “I had a meeting with a manager recently. There have been a few changes in the time, and changes in working patterns, and it has been quite helpful to have them.” Care plans were personalised to ensure outcomes could be met, which meant people received safe and effective support. There was evidence of regular reviews and action being taken immediately following any changes to people’s needs. A relative commented, “The care plan is amended, it’s updated as it’s gone on. I check the care plan to make sure it’s correct.” Another relative said, “There are regular meetings with the director, service manager, nurses and case manager who come to the house to discuss the service and whether any amendments need to be made.”

Staff at the service told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. People’s consent to care and support was respected by staff. A staff member told us, “I always seek consent with the people I support, and if they cannot give informed consent, I always look for signs of distress to show they are not comfortable.” People made their own choices and decisions on a day-to-day basis about what they did, what they ate and how they filled their time. Where people were not able to verbally communicate their choices, the staff used agreed communication techniques to make sure people were able to express their wishes. Care plans contained evidence that consent to care documents had been obtained from people’s legal representatives.