Westminster Homecare Limited (Clacton)

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• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

Responsive – this means we looked for evidence that the service met people’s needs. This is the first inspection for this newly registered service. This key question has been rated good. This meant people’s needs were met through good organisation and delivery.

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 were at the centre of their care and treatment choices and they decided, in partnership with people, how to respond to any relevant changes in people’s needs. People and those important to them told us they were involved in the care planning process. We saw how the service had taken clear steps to check care workers were the right fit for people with specific care needs, such as those living with dementia. This ensured good consistency of care, positive relationship building, and a reduction in anxiety or distress.

The service understood the diverse health and care needs of people and their local communities, so care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity. A professional who works with the service told us, “I find [the service] to provide a standard of high-quality care and they are compassionate in their approach. I have worked jointly with both managers and care workers over the years to provide support with appropriate equipment to ensure the best outcome for each service user. It’s very easy to contact the team and I do this via telephone calls or emails.” This led to co-ordinated care which worked well for people.

The service supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs. Information was available and communicated to people in an accessible way. This included documents in braille, large print and Easy Read format if required. Additionally, leaders told us they could provide translation services for people who did not speak English as their first language.

The service made it easy for people to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. They involved people in decisions about their care and told them what had changed as a result. We saw complaints were thoroughly investigated and any improvements made as required. People’s views were sought through an annual satisfaction survey. A person told us, “I do that once a year (a satisfaction survey), I just sent 1 off.” The service had also received a number of compliments.

The service made sure that people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it. This included physically accompanying people to healthcare appointments if required. A relative said, “I like to take [my person] to [their] appointments, but if I can’t the care workers will.”

Staff and leaders actively listened to information about people who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes and tailored their care, support and treatment in response to this. There was a dedicated on-call service for people to contact outside of usual office hours if they needed any support. A relative told us, “The office [staff] in Clacton are brilliant and they send correspondence to me by email or text because I am deaf and unable hear on the phone.”

People were supported to plan for important life changes, so they could have enough time to make informed decisions about their future, including at the end of their life. Leaders described supporting people at the end of their life, and told us, “We liaise with Single Point and are very responsive. If staff have any concerns about any deterioration any concerns about not eating, pain management, we would be on the phone to Single Point or the GP.” Single Point is a local service which helps people to remain at home for end-of-life care, should this be their choice. However, care plans required some further detail and personalisation to clearly record people’s wishes. The provider told us they planned to continue to develop this in a supportive and sensitive way.