Royal Mencap Society - Rotherham and Sheffield Domiciliary Care Agency

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/changed to 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 people, how to respond to any relevant changes in people’s needs. Care records were person centred and included the voice of the person where possible. Relatives told us they were kept informed and updated with changes to their loved one’s support at the service, one relative commented “The staff always listen to me and let me know of anything happening for [Relative], I couldn’t ask for better communication."

The provider understood the diverse health and care needs of people and their local communities, so care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity. People generally received care from regular staff to support continuity of care. People were supported to access different resources within their local area for both health support and leisure. Staff understood the diversity of people’s needs and ages in supporting them to look at different opportunities.

The provider supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs. People’s communication needs were known to staff. This included understanding where people may need more time to process information or providing information in the form of pictures or simple text. One service manager told us how the housing provider had changed for people living at one of the services, this information was sent out to people in an easy read format to enable a clearer understanding of the situation.

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. Where complaints had been made by people or relatives these were responded to in a timely way and in line with the provider’s policy. There were regular meetings for people living at the services to voice their opinions and suggest changes or new activities. One relative told us, “Managers have always been willing to listen, happy to talk and take things forward. Recently we were concerned about lack of continuity and change of staff. Since raising this with managers, things have now settled down."

The provider made sure that people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it. People were supported to access appointments and facilities in the community to support their health and well-being. Services had appropriate staff levels during an evening and weekends to ensure safe and effective care. The services were accessible and adapted to meet people’s physical needs if required, and staff understood people’s barriers to care and support, and how to escalate these appropriately.

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. Policies on Equality and Diversity were up to date and available to staff. Staff had received training on the Equality Act and Human Rights legislation. Staff members were knowledgeable on how they should ensure people receive the same quality of care from the service. One staff member told us, “I make sure I follow policies, procedures, and care plans consistently, so everyone receives safe and high-quality support."

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. At one of the services, we received extremely positive feedback around how exceptional staff were at supporting 1 person who was receiving palliative treatment. The relative praised staff highly for the caring and responsive way in which they were providing care and support.However, as a recommendation, we did feedback for staff across other services to ensure they were aware of people’s end of life decisions and have knowledge on where important documents such as ‘Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation’ (DNACPR) are kept. At 1 of the services, when discussing a person’s end of life decisions, the staff member could not tell us where information on DNACPR would be found for a person if it had been agreed.