Lifeways Community Care (Warwickshire & Coventry)

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

People’s needs were identified and the information was used to plan people’s care. Staff supported people to have enough to eat and drink so they would remain well. People’s rights were promoted by the staff supporting them. Staff assisted people to achieve good health outcomes. Where people wanted support to attend routine and emergency health care this was promptly actioned by staff. However, we found systems to ensure information required to support people’s treatment was consistently communicated to other health professionals required further development.

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.

The provider made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them. People and relatives told us they were involved in deciding what care was required to meet people's needs and preferences. This included considering people's risks and needs before they started to receive care from staff. For example, if people had a preference for the gender of staff to support them, or required specific help to maintain their health and well-being. One relative told us staff had checked what interests their family member had and said, “They [staff] asked us about what music and tv [person’s name] likes.” This information was used to plan people’s care. Relatives told us they were involved in reviewing their family member’s care needs, during planned reviews or when their needs changed. Staff gave examples showing how they sometimes worked with people for extended periods of time before they received care from staff. This enabled staff to understand about people's complex needs and the best way to respond to these. Staff explained some people moved from other services with initial support from existing staff who knew them well. This helped to ensure people were less anxious when they moved between services. One staff member said they had started to prepare people already receiving care from the service for the arrival of the new person and said, “It gives [existing people receiving care] a chance to ask questions and for me to answer them where I can.” Processes were in place to identify people’s needs and preferences and to develop risk assessments and care plans which reflected these. Systems were in place to review people’s assessments based on people’s, relatives’ and other health and social care professionals’ suggestions. Processes were in place to ensure people’s assessments were updated to respond to their changing needs and wishes.

The provider 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. People were encouraged to have enough to eat and drink because staff offered choices which reflected people’s individual preferences. One person said staff had supported them to lose a significant amount of weight. The person told us staff always encouraged them to make their own food choices, so these were balanced with occasional treats. Relatives gave us examples showing how staff supported people to ensure food was appropriately stored and disposed of when required. Staff used their knowledge of the links between good nutrition and hydration and safety when supporting people. Where staff had any concerns about people experiencing risks when eating and drinking, staff sought specialist advice from other health professionals. Staff gave us examples showing how they supported people to meet their individual nutritional goals. This included monitoring people’s weights where people wanted this, and supporting people to achieve their own weight loss goals. Processes were in place to assess people’s hydration and nutritional needs. Systems were in place to ensure referrals were promptly made to other health and social care professionals to obtain specialist advice to support people to have enough to eat and drink safely.

The provider worked well across teams and services to support people, but did not always share their assessment of people’s needs when people moved between different services. Some people managed their own health appointments independently. Other people told us staff supported them to see other health professionals, such as their GPs, so they could more easily access routine health appointments. Relatives told us they could rely on staff seeking routine medical appointments and supporting their family members to attend these. However, one family member told us staff did not have all the documentation readily available to support their family member’s discharge back to Lifeways Community Care (Warwickshire & Coventry). The relative said they had not been updated regularly when their family member was admitted to hospital. The relative told us, “I had little response from them [Lifeways Community Care (Warwickshire & Coventry)], we were not informed of their [hospital] discharge.” The relative also advised us, “[Lifeways Community Care (Warwickshire & Coventry] staff couldn’t find [family member’s name] hospital passport to take them to the hospital and that delayed in their release.” We found staff did not always know what information should be routinely communicated to other organisations when people were transferred to emergency care or hospital admission. However, staff knew how to identify if people required help from emergency services and gave us examples showing how they worked across their own teams and with other health professionals. Other health and social care professionals told us staff knew the needs of the people they cared for well. Other health and social care professionals gave us examples showing staff followed their advice, so people would achieve the best health outcomes possible. Systems were in place to monitor people's health and to escalate any concerns to health professionals. and follow their advice.

The provider supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to maximise their independence, choice and control. Staff supported people to live healthier lives and where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support. People were encouraged and supported to make healthier choices to help promote and maintain their health and well-being. One person said staff had supported them by offering healthier eating options, so they would be able to improve their health. Relatives gave us examples of the care provided by staff, so their family members would experience improved health. For example, support to help with their skin health. Staff told us they were encouraged to seek support from other health and social care professionals if they had any concerns about people’s physical health or well-being. Staff gave us examples showing how they supported people to do things which helped them to maintain their health and to remain fit. This included supporting people to go swimming, reassuring people when they were anxious and assisting people so they remained free from infections. Partners were positive about the arrangements in place to support people to manage their health. Processes were in place to inform staff what support people wanted to maintain their health. Systems were in place to communicate changes in people’s well-being and health across staff teams. Processes were in place to follow advice from other health and social care professionals.

The provider routinely monitored people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. They ensured that outcomes were positive and consistent, and that they met both clinical expectations and the expectations of people themselves. People told us the care provided by staff had resulted in improvement in their health and well-being. One person told us they were working with staff support and health professionals so their pain was better managed. Other people gave us examples of health goals they had achieved with support from staff, which had improved their physical health. Staff gave us examples showing how they had identified concerns about people’s health and wellbeing and described the approaches they had taken to ensure people received the care they needed. This included working with speech and language and occupational therapy specialists, dentists, district nurses, pharmacists and GPs, so people would be supported to have the care they needed to maintain or improve their health. Staff had a good understanding of people’s individual health needs and knew the importance of monitoring people’s health conditions. For example, one staff member told us about the need to monitor one person’s blood sugar levels, so the person’s health would be maintained. Processes were in place to ensure people's health goals were identified and monitored. Systems were in place to support people to achieve their health and well-being goals.

The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. People told us staff asked them if they wanted care and respected their choices. One person told us this included their lifestyle and health choices, so they could live the life they wanted to lead. Relatives told us they were involved in making suggestions about the types of care their family members may wish to have. Staff knew the importance of listening to people’s decisions about their care. One staff member described how they supported one person and told us, “No is a very clear ‘No’. ‘No’ is always respected. We always seek consent from [person’s name], it’s imperative. [Person’s name] can indicate choice and what they want.” Staff gave us examples showing how they checked people were accepting of care, where they were not able to verbally agree. This involved checking people’s body language. Staff understood who needed to be consulted where people did not have capacity to make some decisions about their care. Systems were in place to identify if people needed support to make important decisions about their care. Processes were in place when decisions needed to be taken in people’s best interests. This included systems for consulting with people’s legal representatives and relatives and health and social care professionals.