Great Prospects Care 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 provider carried out assessments of people’s needs before they used the service, and people told us they were involved in the assessment process. A person told us, “I was involved in the development of my care plan, and I am invited to my reviews.” A relative told us, “I am always invited the care reviews. If there is any proposed change to the care plan, they always ask my option first, like when they felt a double handed call was no longer needed. I appreciated that very much.”

People’s care plans were robust and included nationally recognised assessment tools, such as the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) to assess people’s nutritional needs, and WATERLOW, to assess people’s skin integrity and reduce the risk of developing pressure sores. One person told us, “My condition makes me prone to recurrent infections, but since I have been with the company I’ve not had one infection because staff know what they are doing, and don’t need to repeat myself.”

The registered manager told us they sought and reviewed feedback from other health care professionals involved in people’s care to maximise the health and wellbeing of the people whothey supported. They told us, “We do a lot of audits, and then audit those audits. For example, we look at skin care, people’s weights, and bowel movements so we can pick up on any changes as soon as they appear.” Staff told us they continually assessed people’s health and updated their care records to accurately reflect their needs. Staff we spoke with knew people’s needs well.

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 were provided with care and support which met their needs and expectations. A person told us, “I would recommend Great Prospects Care to anyone because everyone is very good at their job; they listen to you.”

People’s nutritional and hydration needs were assessed and planned for. Care plans were detailed, and staff followed the professional advice given to keep people safe. One person told us, “My carer gets me sugar-free flavoured water because it’s nicer to drink than plain water, so I drink more of it.”

Staff told us they monitored and recorded people’s weight, bowel movements, skin condition, nutrition and hydration intake several times daily, and this was evidenced in the daily notes and care records we viewed. One staff member told us, “[Person’s name] loves oat milk coffees which has helped to stabilise their weight.”

The registered manager told us, “The deputies from both services have protected time every morning to review every person’s care notes. Any actions required are taken and recorded onto a care note monitoring log to analyse for trends or concerns, and every week we have an office catch up to go through all our clients’ care documents and concerns from that week.”

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.

When people first moved into the supported living service, there was a lot of input from external health professionals such as the Learning Disability nurse, social workers and the GP.

The management and staff teams worked jointly with other services and professionals to ensure people received effective and timely care. Where people had lost weight, staff made referrals to the dietician, and in the case of a person at risk of choking, the speech and language therapy team (SALT) were involved.

One health care professional told us, “The staff let me know if there are any changes we need to be made aware of, to ensure safe and consistent care.”

Staff attended daily handover meetings and shared relevant information about people appropriately with other services and teams involved in their care, to ensure people’s needs, and any changes in their needs, were understood and followed. The registered manager told us, “We value the support of many health care professionals to keep our clients as safe and well as is possible to be.”

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.

People had access to the health care services they needed to maximise their health and wellbeing. For example, people were supported to attend appointments with the GP, dental community and the chiropodist.

One staff member told us, “We take a bottle of water whenever we go out with [person’s name], to make sure (they) stays hydrated during the day.” Another staff member told us, “[Person’s name] loves fruit smoothies which are healthy and have increased (their) fluid intake.”

Each person in the supported living service had a hospital passport which they took with them when they transferred to hospital or moved between services. A hospital passport is a document that provides health care professionals with essential information about a person’s individual needs and preferences.

One relative told us, “Staff will call the GP for [person’s name] if ever it’s needed, and they will always call me to let me know they have done so.”

Care records showed that a range of health care professionals were involved in the care and treatment of people, and staff made appropriate and timely referrals to support people to stay healthy. Staff followed the recommendations of professionals, who confirmed that the staff teams worked closely with them to ensure that people’s health and medical needs were optimised.

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.

The management team met with people frequently to check that people were happy with their care. The registered manager told us, “One of our clients is non-verbal, and uses blinking to express yes and no. When we asked them if he had fun with his carers, they blinked once which is his sign that says ‘yes’. Another person is under the SALT team for communication strategies to support us to improve the effectiveness of our communication with them.”

The staff told us that they encouraged people to share their thoughts, opinions and preferences routinely with them, to improve their care experience. One staff member told us, “By knowing how they are feeling and what they like, they shape their care and stay happy and in control.”

Care plans detailed the outcomes expected from the care and treatment delivered to people, and staff knew what these outcomes were. For example, we saw bowel monitoring charts for people and associated guidance for staff to support them to remain healthy.

Staff supervisions and spot checks had taken place regularly and staff told us they found it supportive and helpful. One staff member told us, “I feel supported and valued in my role because the managers are not only approachable and listen, but they take action to make things good for everyone.”

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

People, and their relatives where necessary, gave their consent to the care and treatment they received, and people’s liberty was promoted in line with legal guidance. One person told us, “I am always asked for my permission before I am helped.”

People’s capacity to make specific decisions was assessed and documented in their care plans. Where people had been assessed as lacking capacity to make a specific decision, relatives and relevant health and social care professionals were involved in making a best interest’s decision on the person’s behalf, for example, to use head gear.

Staff had completed training in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and understood their responsibility to gain consent from people in line with the principles of the Act. People told usthey made choices about day-to-day decisions such as meals and drinks they had, and the activities they wanted to do.