Sherwood

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.

This is the first assessment for this service under this provider. This key question has been rated Outstanding. This meant services were tailored to meet the needs of individuals and delivered to ensure flexibility, choice and continuity of care.

This service scored 89 (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 was exceptional at making 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.

Support plans were exceptionally person centred and individualised, each area covered different areas in a person's life to support their overall well-being. We saw these plans were reviewed regularly with the person and their family, advocates and any health professionals involved in their care. Each care and support plan contained a highly personalised, realistic plan of what people would like to achieve. For example, one person had an exceptionally detailed care plan in place, which had been coproduced with them. The plan detailed the sensory sensitivities the person experienced and how this may be overwhelming for them. For example, lights, crowds and unfamiliar environments. The support plan in place for this had detailed goals for the person, and clear guidance for staff on how to reduce the impact of these specific triggers on the person. This enabled the person to participate more confidently in daily activities and pursue goals that were important to them whilst reducing anxiety and distress.

Details of people’s wishes and dreams for life were clearly documented and discussed. We saw that people were encouraged to be active participants in the local community and to enjoy fulfilling lives, which focussed on positive outcomes. These had been tailored to people’s individual skills and qualities. Each person had their own activity and support planner, that was effectively tailored to people's needs and choices. One person said, “I really do like the social activities, such as bowling and the cinema.” Where people had previously lived in a more secure environment, we saw detailed plans in place to support transitioning to a community setting. One person explained how this felt for them, they said, “They really support my independence. I look after myself and ask for support if needed.” It was clear that support was designed to maximise social inclusion, independence and opportunities for meaningful community participation.

Staff were passionate in providing care, support and meaningful activity to provide a high standard of life quality for people. One staff member told us, “Our aim is always to provide the right support for each person. To enable them to flourish in this environment. We have seen improvements with all residents, sometimes this can take time, as every person is a unique individual.”

The management team were motivated to use new ideas and initiatives to maintain excellent care for people. People were encouraged to work alongside the staff team, to acquire skills in cooking and maintenance. This in turn, supported an increase in life experiences, whilst promoting independence. A visiting professional gave positive feedback about the person-centred approach at Sherwood, they told us, “The service demonstrates a strong commitment to multi-agency working and achieving positive outcomes for the individuals they support.”

The provider had an exceptional understanding of the diverse health and care needs of people and their local communities, so care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity.

People had highly detailed and personalised hospital passports in place, for use with any planned admissions or emergency events. These documents ensured people’s care and support needs could be met if they were away from the service. The service understood the importance of ensuring people were enabled to understand and effectively communicate with other healthcare professionals. This included the use of social stories and preparation visits with other agencies, in order to feel supported for any appointments. This multi-agency approach ensured the best possible outcomes for people. A visiting professional said, “Staff are consistently professional, approachable, pleasant, and helpful, making them a valued partner in joint working arrangements.”

The provider was exceptional at developing appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs. The service appropriately identified people’s individual communication needs to make sure information was always provided in an accessible way. This included making reasonable adjustments for people. For example, each person had a highly personalised reasonable adjustments profile in place. These were very detailed, and gave information on preferred communication needs, healthcare adjustments (for example, support with dentist or GP visits), community safety support needs and gave guidance for staff on the specific approach people required.

People were fully involved as partners in their care. People all told us that they felt listened to, and their opinions were valued. The complaints procedure was accessible to people, with visual guidance on how to raise any concerns displayed in reception, and throughout the service.

Accessible, easy read contact details were displayed across the service, for Advocacy services, CQC and the Adult Safeguarding team, along with other important information. People were supported to understand how they could access these if needed. We saw records of independent advocates being involved in supporting people to understand and direct their support needs, where appropriate

A robust complaints policy and procedure was available in formats suitable for all people to understand. This was given to people and relatives as part of their service user guide.

People who used the service told us they felt able to raise any concerns with the manager or staff and felt assured they would be dealt with. Each person had an allocated key worker, who they met with regularly and could share any concerns with. Where people had raised any concerns, we saw this had been clearly documented, reviewed, and outcomes discussed and shared with people to help them understand these. One person said, “If I had any concerns I would speak with the manager.” Another person said, “I have never needed to raise any concerns with the management team, but I know how to.”

The provider was exceptional at enabling people to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. Staff always involved people in decisions about their care and told them what had changed as a result.

People were encouraged to be involved in and share their voice on all aspects of their care and support. The deputy manager explained it was essential at Sherwood that people were enabled to feel valued and to have a sense of ownership. A regular community meeting was held, named the ‘Sherwood Pie’ where people could discuss any concerns or share ideas for improvements. The agenda covered, meals, activities, the community agreements around smoking, drugs and alcohol and fire safety. We saw the actions arising from these meetings had been fully addressed, with a ‘you said, we did’ board in place, describing actions completed in both written and pictorial format. The minutes from these meetings were also shared in an easy read and pictorial format, ensuring all people were able to understand any actions taken.

People were encouraged to participate in staff interviews and in discussions around placement requests for potential new residents. We saw from records that people had been actively involved in interview panels and new staff induction processes. This gave people the opportunity to ensure that new staff understood them as individuals and exhibited the right skills to meet people’s needs. This approach gave people ownership of every part of the service and ensured their opinions were always fully considered and valued.

The provider made sure that people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it.

The service ensured they worked effectively, in partnership with external health and social care teams. Records showed people's oral health, weights, blood pressure, and other clinical observations were recorded regularly and any areas of concern shared promptly. These observations gave a good indication of the overall health of people using the service. People had been supported to attend dentist appointments, vaccinations, breast screening, cervical screening and well person checks. The care plans for these detailed any anxiety people may have around these external appointments, and how they wished to be supported by the staff team.

Staff and leaders were innovative in how they listened to information about people who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes. Staff and leaders actively used this information to provide exceptionally tailored care, support and treatment in response to this.

The outcomes for people using the service truly reflected the principles and values of, 'Right support, right care, right culture', promoting choice, independence, control, and inclusion. People and their families were recognised as the experts in their own lives, with an emphasis on what they could achieve first, followed by any support they required.

People told us staff consistently listened to their experiences and aspirations for their care plans. Staff always championed people’s rights and upheld equality and diversity with respect. The whole staff team showed an in-depth knowledge of meeting the needs of people living at the service and continued to look for and achieve further improvements in their knowledge and skill sets. The management teams’ expected standards were exceptionally high, and staff were committed to achieving and maintaining these.

Throughout the service we saw ample evidence of the wide range of activities that people had the option to participate in. One person gave feedback about their experience in the service, saying, “Compared to other places I have lived, this is paradise.” Another person said, “The staff support me with my personal shopping and with healthcare appointments, group activities and visiting my family.”

People had been supported to vote in elections; we saw evidence of this in their individual care plans. The staff team had worked hard to ensure that people would be able to learn and develop understanding around having their voice heard, and to make informed choices about who and what they were voting for. We saw that the staff team had invested time and support to ensure people were enabled to enact their democratic rights.

People were supported and involved in making decisions and plans about their preferences for end of life care. Although nobody living at the service was receiving end of life care at the time of our inspection.

Where appropriate, people had been supported to make decisions about how they would wish staff to support them when they neared the end of their life. These discussions had been developed into detailed and meaningful care plans, which included people’s personal preferences. These included details about people’s faith (or wish for a humanitarian service), clothing, music and the people they wished to be involved and/or informed about their death and their views on remaining in the service or going into hospital.

Staff were skilled and experienced in end of life care and understood people's needs. Staff had undertaken additional training in providing palliative care and bereavement support. The service had access to a supportive community palliative care team, should this be required.