Sowa

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• 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

During our assessment of this key question, we found policies and procedures were in place to assess people's needs before they started using the service. However, some initial assessments had been completed by a person not employed by the service and therefore procedures not always followed. Some people using the service required decision specific mental capacity assessments and best interest decisions however, these had not always been completed in line with the Mental Capacity Act. In our conversations with people and relatives, no concerns were raised in this area and staff supported people to choose and be involved in their care, as much as possible.

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.

We did not receive any specific feedback on this quality statement.

The registered manager told us the process they followed when assessing a new referral; this included reviewing people's needs and preferences and matching these with staff. In our conversations with people and relatives, no concerns were raised in this area.

There were policies and procedures in relation to assessing people's needs before they started using the service. However, during this inspection we found this process was not always happening. For example, the provider was caring for people living in Sheffield and initial assessments were completed by a person from an external agency that did not work for the provider. We found the registered manager did not have a good oversight of these care packages.

We did not look at Delivering evidence-based care and treatment during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at How staff, teams and services work together during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at Supporting people to live healthier lives during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at Monitoring and improving outcomes during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

Relatives did not raise concerns in this area and told us staff supported people to choose and be involved in their care, as much as possible.

The registered manager told us they worked closely with relatives and relevant healthcare professionals when assessing and planning people's care however, we found examples, of their own MCA policies and procedures not being followed.

There were policies and procedures in relation to consent and ensuring care provided to people who might lack capacity was assessed and in their best interests. However, in our review of people's records we found this policy was not always being followed. We found examples of people who had a learning disability or lived with dementia receiving care that was, at times, completed in their best interests but there was no evidence of decision specific mental capacity assessments (MCA’s) being completed or the best interest decisions. We did not find evidence that people received care that was not in their best interests, and no concerns were raised however, there was a lack of clear recording.