Creative Support - Bedford Services

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 Requires Improvement. At this assessment the rating has changed to 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. People and family met with staff and had several trial visits before a joint decision was made to ensure the service was suitable for them. One relative told us, “The whole transition process went smoothly, and we were all involved.”

Some people lived in accommodation shared with other people. Consideration was taken to ensure people could live together. A relative told us about how their [family member] first went to live in one of the supported houses. They told us they visited initially for tea, then stayed over, which gave them an informed choice as to whether they were happy to move in. The registered manager confirmed decisions were collectively made based on the person’s wishes and feedback from people.
 

We looked at the assessment tool and saw that healthcare professionals were involved in people’s care where needed to ensure care was based on up-to-date legislation, standards and best practice.

People had a comprehensive assessment of their needs before they went to live at the service. The assessment included understanding people's backgrounds, histories and what was important to them including their views, preferences and aspirations.Assessment documentation showed all aspects of a person's needs were considered including the characteristics identified under the Equality Act and other equality 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 received care which reflected good practice because staff worked closely with other professionals and involved people in planning their own care. One relative told us, “The staff are well trained and very competent. They know the best way to approach things.”

Staff confirmed they were provided with good support and training to meet people's needs effectively. We saw that an ongoing schedule of training was in place, to ensure staff kept up to date with best practice, this included specific training in relation to end of life care and, autism and learning disabilities.

The provider was able to provide evidence-based care and treatment, and they had developed an evidence-based policy that was in line with national good practice. Systems were in place to support staff to deliver care to people in line with legislation, current practice and standards. New staff completed an induction where they worked with experienced staff to understand and gain knowledge about the job role. All staff completed training to ensure they were up to date with best practice guidance. We also saw the provider carried out regular spot checks to observe that staff were working in line with best practice.

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.

Staff were supported to deliver the care and support people required as soon as they started to use the service.Staff told us they worked well with other healthcare professionals and 1 commented, “[Person’s] GP has been really helpful and signposted us to other agencies for advice and extra support.”

The provider ensured that staff had access to information about people’s care and support needs and were informed about how people’s needs should be met.

Systems were in place to incorporate advice from other health and social care professionals working with the service into people’s support plans, so staff had access to this information and were able to help deliver continuity of care.

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. For example, a relative told us, “The carers encourage [family member] to eat healthy, support them with their medicines and support them to attend all their health and medical appointments.”

Staff told us they supported people to attended clinical appointments if they needed that extra support. One staff member said, “We organise and support people with their health needs and their wellbeing. We assist people with health appointments and attend their appointments with them if they wish us to.”

Staff received training in how to meet and appropriately manage people’s medical and care needs.

Care plans detailed people’s health care needs and conditions and the action staff needed to take to keep people fit and well. Records confirmed that staff ensured people routinely attended scheduled health care appointments and had regular check-ups with a range of external, community-based medical and health care professionals.

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 provider took a proactive approach to supporting people to achieve better outcomes. It was clear that the provider and management team recognised the importance of learning lessons and ensuring continuous improvements to ensure they maintained person-centred and safe care for people they supported. The quality and safety of the service people received were routinely monitored by conducting regular audits and checks and obtaining stakeholder feedback.

The outcome of all audits, monitoring checks and feedback were routinely analysed to identify issues, learn lessons and develop action plans to improve the service they provided people.

The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. People and their relatives told us they were involved in decisions about their care. A relative told us, “The carers always seek permission from my [family member] before they do anything. I have seen them do it all the time. They know how to communicate with them.” One relative told us their [family member] had a Court of Protection order that had been left to expire. We checked to see if this was the case and found the Court of Protection application was within date.

Staff we spoke with had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and told us they always asked people for consent before they undertook any task and always respected people’s decisions. One staff member said, “We complete training thatincludes training on the Mental Capacity Act and codes of practice.”

Staff had received training and had a good understanding of the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA). The provider was aware of the process to follow to make formal decisions in people's best interests if needed.