Agincare

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. This is the first assessment for this service. This key question has been rated 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.

The provider made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them. The provider made initial assessments of people’s needs prior to care packages commencing. Assessments incorporated information from people and professionals; to help ensure they reflected the care required. Senior staff carried out subsequent reviews of people’s care at agreed intervals or when people’s needs changed. This helped to ensure care plans and assessments were kept current and reflective of people’s needs.

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. The provider had developed policies in line with best practice guidance and kept them updated to contain most current information. Senior staff had received training in the use of nationally recognised assessment tools, such as The Braden Scale, which is a nationally recognised way of assessing people’s risk of developing pressure sores. This helped to ensure any risks related to skin integrity were assessed and reduced.

The provider worked well across teams and services to support people. They made sure people only needed to tell their story once by sharing their assessment of needs when people moved between different services. The registered manager showed us examples of how they had worked with other stakeholders to facilitate access across different services. This included developing shared care plans when working with other providers and adjusting care times when people attended appointments and reviews. This help to promote consistency and safety for people as they accessed different services.

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’s healthcare needs were identified in their care plans. This included the level of support they needed to maintain good health. Senior staff monitored daily logs of care to help recognise when people’s needs were changing and whether care needed adjusting. Changes in people’s healthcare needs were communicated effectively with staff via the electronic care planning system, which meant updates and key messages could be shared in real time. When people became unwell, staff identified issues and escalated concerns to the appropriate health or medical professionals. Where people had specific health conditions, staff had training in line with these conditions. This helped to ensure staff had a good understanding of people healthcare needs and how to respond appropriately when their needs changed.

The provider routinely monitored people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. They ensured that outcomes were positive and met the expectations of people themselves. People’s care plans identified specific goals and outcomes related to their care. For example, areas where people wished to remain independent. The provider carried out regular reviews with people to help ensure preferred outcomes of care were relevant and agreed by all parties. This helped to promote a shared understanding of the aim and preferred outcomes of care.

The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. There were policies and procedures in place to ensure valid consent to care was obtained. People told us staff sought their consent before delivering care. Staff had a good knowledge around the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and how to practically apply this in their everyday roles. Where people had appointed a power of attorney, the provider ensured this legal authority to act on a person’s behalf was verified. This helped to ensure the provider was following the correct procedures around gaining consent to care.