Radfield Home Care Bromley, Orpington & Beckenham

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 newly registered 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.

People, and their relatives where appropriate, were involved in assessing their own or their loved ones needs, and in developing and agreeing their care plans and risk assessments. People’s assessments included information about their personal histories, interests and hobbies, religion and culture, along with information about their health, wellbeing, care and communication needs. People had been involved in regular reviews of their care and support and had consented to any changes to these. People knew they could request a change in their care plans at any time and were confident that this would happen.

Care plans included person-centred guidance for staff on delivering the best care possible in line with people’s needs and preferences. The care plans were outcomes based and included information about maintaining people’s independence and skills as much as possible. For example, one person’s care plan contained guidance for staff on how to safely support and encourage them to be more mobile, whilst respecting their choice to refuse.

Information provided by other professionals was included in people’s care plans for staff to follow, for example in relation to skin care and catheter care. People were asked for their consent to share information where appropriate. The service is new, and at the time of our inspection people had not moved to or from other services. However, the registered manager stressed the importance of sharing assessments and other information, with people’s involvement, where there were any changes of service or provider.

People were encouraged to mobilise as much as possible with the assistance of staff. People at risk of malnutrition or dehydration were prompted and encouraged to eat and drink. The service recognised that maintaining mental wellbeing was important for people, particularly people living alone who may not see anyone other than their care workers on a regular basis. Where possible, people were matched with staff with similar interests and hobbies, so they had things in common to chat about. Staff celebrated people’s birthdays and important festivals with them. Staff encouraged people to participate in local activities with support where required.

People’s care plans focused on maintaining their independence as much as possible. Staff monitored people for any physical or behavioural changes which might indicate a health condition or loss of skills or cognition and reported any such changes immediately. The registered manager spoke of the importance of working with others to achieve improved outcomes. For example, staff had worked with people and their relatives to agree consistent and proven ways of managing distress.

People understood their rights around consent. People had signed to show they consented to their care and support. The service had carried out capacity assessments with people. These followed the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and associated guidance. At the time of our inspection all people using the service were assessed as having capacity to make decisions. The capacity assessments were revisited at each care review. The service’s policies and procedures reflected current best practice in relation to capacity and consent.