Hales Group Limited - 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 requires improvement. The rating for this key question 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.

Staff made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, well-being and communication needs with them. People's needs were assessed before they received care from the service. Guidance on how to support people with specific needs was incorporated into their assessment of needs. When needs changed, so did the assessment and the guidance for staff. A relative commented, “[Name] has a particular requirement, and it is not standard medical apparatus, so the staff had to be trained to change and deal with this.” The registered manager met with people and their relatives before packages of care started to ensure their needs could be met by the service.

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. A relative commented, “My relative has a care plan, and it accurately reflects their care.” Staff applied learning effectively in line with best practice, which led to good outcomes for people and supported a better quality of life.

Staff at the service worked well across teams and services to support people. A relative commented, “[Name] was late being discharged from hospital, but the manager said that whatever the time they would send someone out to help them settle, that is a good service.” The service had systems in place for staff to communicate with each other which enabled them to deliver people’s care and support. A staff member told us, “Any changes are shared via handovers, care plan updates, phone calls and notes.” Staff made timely referrals and worked with other agencies to ensure people's treatment needs were met.

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 This included from the GP, or district nursing service. Staff had the knowledge to monitor and identify a deterioration in a person’s health.

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. Care plans were personalised to ensure outcomes could be met, which meant people received safe and effective support. There was evidence of reviews and action being taken immediately following any changes to people’s needs. During reviews, care needs were discussed to improve outcomes. A relative commented, “Care plans are constantly under review, and I am privy to all the discussions and changes.”

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. Care plans contained evidence that consent to care documents had been obtained from people’s legal representatives.