SureCare Swale Also known as Kent Care LTD

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.

People and their relatives were involved in the initial assessment of their needs with a member of the management team. This information was transferred into people’s care plans which included people’s communication, personal and health needs. Staff worked with external health care agencies involved in people’s care for the best outcomes and smooth transitions when moving between services. Staff supported people to understand their care and treatment to enable them to give informed consent. Appropriate people had been involved in decisions in people’s best interests when they did not have the capacity for the specific decision.

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’s needs were assessed by the registered manager prior to care starting. People and their relatives were involved in the initial assessment of their needs. The registered manager and staff told us that people’s health, care, independence and communication needs were recorded within their care records and available to all staff. These were reviewed on a regular basis.

People’s care and treatment was planned and delivered with them alongside any relatives or relevant health care professionals involved, to include what was important and mattered to the person such as, their choice to smoke, previous work history and family support. People’s care was delivered in line with legislation and current evidence-based good practice and standards. People’s nutrition and hydration needs were recorded in the initial assessment. At the time of our assessment no one was receiving support to manage this task. Staff had been trained in food safety and hygiene and ensured people’s records were completed if they had supported people by making a drink and supporting their hydration.

The registered manager and staff worked well with external health care professionals and services to support people to achieve the best outcomes and smooth transitions when moving between services. People had been involved in developing documents such as hospital passports to ensure their needs continued to be met in the way they wanted when moving between services. Relatives spoke highly of the communication between staff and themselves if there were any concerns with their loved one. One relative said, “There was a time when [loved one] was not eating much, we kept communication open and that seemed to work. They tell me everything and vice versa.” Appropriate referrals were made to ensure people received relevant support with their needs such as, the local authority and speech and language therapists (SALT).

Staff supported people to be as involved in their care and support as possible whilst increasing their independence, choice and control. Appropriate agencies had been contacted when changes had been identified in a person’s care needs such as, the SALT team. Staff had immediate access to people’s care records when any changes were made to ensure people remained as healthy as possible by receiving appropriate support from staff.

During the initial assessment people were asked to think about the outcome they wanted to achieve from receiving care and support from the agency. Some outcomes had been recorded such as wanting to feel safe and remaining as well as possible. People’s care and treatment was routinely monitored to ensure it continued to meet the person’s needs. Feedback was sought from people and their relatives on a regular basis and acted on.

People told us staff always asked for their consent before delivering any care or support. Staff had been trained and understood the importance of gaining people’s consent and ensuring people were making their own decisions where possible. Guidance and legislation had been followed in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005, where people lacked capacity to make specific decisions a meeting was held with the relevant people in the person’s best interests. Records were available and stored for people who had a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) in place as required. An LPA is a legal document that lets you appoint one or more people to make decisions with you on your behalf.