Rothbury Cottage Care Ltd

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• 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 service met people’s needs. This was the first inspection for this service. This key question has been rated good. This meant people’s needs were met through good organisation and delivery.

This service scored 79 (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 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 plans and risk assessments were reviewed to make sure these met people’s needs and reflected their wishes. A relative told us, “The staff always let us know what is going on.” A person said, “They always check I’m happy with the plans and how they provide my care.”

Staff understood the diverse health and care needs of people and their local communities, so care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity. A professional said, “We have a very good working relationship with the team.”

The provider supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs. Information was available in a variety of formats and way they could understand. Communication plans were in place. Care staff told us they had information about and understood people’s communication needs. We observed staff effectively support people to fully express themselves.

Staff made it easy for people to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. They involved people in decisions about their care and told them what had changed as a result. A person said, “I can’t fault them and have never needed to raise any concerns but do know they would be dealt with properly if I ever did need to.”

The provider was excellent at ensuring people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it. They had closely worked with the local NHS Trust to support them address the unmet need in Rothbury. Following the closure of a local community hospital the local community had raised significant concerns about the lack of convalescent services and the Trust had found there was a need for a community service in the Rothbury area. The provider had worked very closely with the local NHS Trust to design and set up this service. People in the local community and within the Trust had found the service had worked really well and resolved the unmet need in the area. The NHS community team found staff were all working to the same goal and provided a flexible service. Staff understood how to access specialist health or social care support people might need. A professional said, “We have worked alongside Rothbury Cottage Care Ltd. for around 2 years now. It has been a lifeline for a lot of our patients living in rural Northumberland. This, being the only care facility in our locality, has given options to our patients, particularly when they may be unwell, approach palliative or end of life care, and also giving informal carers a chance to have some respite. Being such a rural area, we often struggle to get home care in place. However now, we have an option of residents coming into Rothbury Cottage Care Ltd., avoiding acute hospital admissions and also keeping people in their local surroundings; which we find is a really important to our residents- they want to stay in Rothbury.”

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. For example, staff completed training in equality and diversity to understand and reduce inequalities or prejudices that affected outcomes for people. The management team ensured peoples’ social and healthcare needs were fully considered and met.

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. Staff understood how to deliver this should it ever be needed and when the level of care was more than they could provide. They knew who to contact to gain additional support such as the Macmillan nursing team and when to ask for a re-assessment of a person’s needs. A person said, “They have been great and are really flexible. I have had to keep changing the length of my stay and the staff have just gone with the flow.” A professional said, “With regards to palliative care, we have had a number of quite complex patients who have been in the home. This has been a challenge for the carers and as a team we have done our best to support them to provide the best care possible to our patients. We are happy to support with training to ensure any concerns are addressed. When the home first opened a lot of the staff did appear unnerved caring for patients at the end of their life, however I would say as time has gone on, they appear more confident within the care they are providing.”