Helping Hands Northallerton

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 inspection 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 service made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them. People were involved in a holistic assessment of their needs. People received support to understand their needs and checks were in place to ensure support was appropriate to meet their needs. For example, reviews were undertaken after 1, 4 and 12 weeks, and then every 6 months, or when changes occurred. A staff member described one way in which care needs were monitored, “Sometimes we do run over on calls. I would write this in the notes for management to look at the call times being extended.”

The service 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 received care delivered by staff in line with current best-practice guidance. The service ensured they were kept up-dated with innovation and shared this with staff. For example, recent staff meeting minutes contained information about updates regarding safeguarding practices.

The service 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. Staff confirmed they were kept very well informed about people and their changing care needs. Staff were proactive about sharing information to ensure any changes were immediately understood and support changed, where necessary. Care plan updates took place as soon as changing care needs were identified. A staff member confirmed, “Yes, we all work together well.” Another told us, “We work very well as a team.” And another explained, “Continuity of care is really important.”

The service supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to maximise their independence, choice and control. The service supported people to live healthier lives and where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support. People’s health needs were assessed and monitored. Staff were proactive in identifying and recording any changing health needs. For example, one person’s care plan directed staff to check them for any signs of pressure damage at each care intervention because this person’s medication may make them susceptible to this. This ensured people received the appropriate support for their health. People were supported to make and access health appointments when needed.

The service 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. Care plans clearly recorded people’s wishes and what their anticipated outcomes were from the care they received. Where changes occurred people’s expected outcomes were also reviewed to ensure care was monitored and improvements made, where appropriate.

The service told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. People had consented to their care and support. Where people had not been able to consent care plans contained the relevant information, for example, power of attorneys, to confirm other people had consented, and why it was appropriate for them to do so. Care staff understood the importance of gaining consent at each care delivery and were directed to do so by the information in the support plan. A person confirmed, “Yes, they ask my consent. They do all the right things, and I am pleased with the care.”