Comfort Call-North Tyneside

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

Responsive – this means we looked for evidence that the provider met people’s needs.

At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has

remained good.

This meant people’s needs were met through good organisation and delivery.

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 were at the centre of their care and treatment choices, and they decided, in partnership with staff and other healthcare professionals involved in their care, how to respond to their immediate and changing needs.

Each person had an individual plan of care which had been developed with input from healthcare partners. There was evidence of people being involved in pre-admission procedures, care plan development and review.

Care plans detailed matters that were important to people, their preferences, desired outcomes and how staff could support them in a way that reflected their wishes and routines. Some people had positive behavioural support plans to help staff understand best ways to support them. These plans detailed proactive, preventative, reactive and supportive strategies to improve outcomes and reduce unpleasant feelings for people.

A healthcare professional told us, “I have experienced prompt, reliable and person-centred professionalism from the manager and the team."
 

The provider understood the diverse health and care needs of people and their local communities. Staff supported people to ensure their care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity.

The provider worked with partners and people to support care integration and continuity between services. Rotas were developed to support demand, requests from partners and give best coverage to support people during transition from hospital to community care.

Staffing was planned in advance to support continuity and meet people’s preferences with particular staff members. This allowed staff to really get to know people and develop therapeutic relationships.

The provider monitored calls in real-time to identify any issues with care provision as they arose and to take any immediate actions to ensure continuity. The provider had several procedures in place in the event of an untoward event such as adverse weather conditions and contingency arrangements in case of unplanned staff absence.

One healthcare professional reported, “I know I can rely on them to jump onto my capacity requests whatever the urgency. Staff go out of their way to find the best capacity for service users."

The provider supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs.

People could access their care plan and associated information via an application on staff devices. Staff dealt with any queries during calls and managers contacted people to ensure they were satisfied with their care. This allowed people to ask questions and request information.

Care plans contained information about people’s communication needs and preferences. This supported staff in ensuring information sharing was reflective of people’s personal circumstances.

Information was presented in ways which helped staff understand and respond to people’s needs. This included large font, easy-read, Makaton and altered colour documents to assist people who preferred information in a more accessible format. Staff had also successfully used translation services to support people where English was not their first language.
 

The provider made it easy for people to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. Staff involved people in decisions about their care and told them what had changed as a result.
People told us they were involved in all aspects of their care and support. One relative said, “They ring us up to talk about things. We are very happy with them all.”
People were provided with information on ways they could feedback about their care, support and the service. People told us they could speak with staff and managers at any time and were aware of the complaint’s procedure. A relative told us, “We have a number we can call but I have never had too about anything.”
Staff gathered feedback from people through telephone calls, spot-check visits, surveys and at organised events such as social occasions and meetings.
Staff used information gathered from listening to and involving people to identify areas for service development, learning and to improve outcomes for people.
 

The provider made sure that people could access the care, support and treatment they needed, when they needed it.
Staff were flexible in their approach to personal requests and timings of visits including out-of-hours. Managerial support was always available to people and there was a dedicated contact number for people to use.
Key contact information was recorded in people’s care plans which enabled staff to speak to the right people at the right time. Care plans showed people had support from a range of health professionals. People accessed care and specialist support services without difficulty or obstruction.
 

Staff and leaders actively listened to information about people who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes and tailored their care, support and treatment in response to this.
Staff agreed bespoke packages of care tailored to people’s support and treatment needs, taking into account their background, protected characteristics and any disabilities. This ensured people did not have inequality in experience and outcomes.
The provider had policies on equality, diversity and inclusion, and staff had completed relevant training. This helped ensure they understood people’s needs, protected characteristics and the importance of delivering equitable care.
Care plans demonstrated decisions were made with relevant people to ensure staff always acted in people’s best interests. This included family members, advocates and healthcare partners.
 

People were supported to plan for important life changes, so they could have enough time to make informed decisions about their future, including at the end of their life.

However, care plans on this aspect of care did not always record people’s wishes and there was a lack of person-centred detail to inform staff and support people at that time.

The registered manager told us they were revamping ‘Planning for the future’ and ‘End-of-life’ care plans to better record people’s preferences, wishes and ensure an improved outcomes focus for people.