Adjoy Healthcare Westberkshire

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

People were supported by staff to access additional health care and support when needed. Staff were aware of the principles of The Mental Capacity Act (2005) and ensured the care they provided to people followed these principles. Pre-assessment checks were completed prior to a person’s package of care starting to ensure the service could deliver the care required and confirm what care and support was required.

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 prior to them commencing with the agency.

Senior staff completed assessments of people with one staff member telling us, “I will go out to assess a person’s needs and obtain the information we need about the care they require.”

Assessments were carried out before people commencing with the agency. This assessment was used as the basis for the person’s care plan which was developed and amended over time as staff cared for the person.

People were provided with care in line with their needs. This included ensuring people had health professional input if they needed it, such as a district nurse to administer insulin for someone who was diabetic.

Staff said they ensured they could meet the person’s needs prior to delivering the care package. Staff told us they completed the Care Certificate which is a set of modules designed for people working in this type of service. This helped ensure they were aware of best practices and had appropriate training to help make sure they were provided the best care. Staff said, “We always have two carers on a call if we need to hoist someone.”

Before staff commenced working independently in the field, they undertook an induction which included training and shadowing a more experienced member of staff. Training covered a wide range of topics to help make sure staff were aware of current practices and information in relation to the needs of the people they may care for. We saw staff training was up to date and covered subjects such as infection prevention and control, medicines and first aid.

Staff worked with external agencies to support people and to help ensure their experience of care was a good one. For example, staff made referrals on behalf of people, approached their care manager for additional care hours or, in the case of one person checked on their up and coming hospital appointments so they could work around these.

The registered manager told us, “We work with staff and match them with the people who we provide care to. We work with families and other agencies who may be involved in their care. For example, we worked with one person to increase their daily calls when they were discharged from hospital.”

We did not receive any feedback from partners for this quality statement as part of this assessment.

The agency worked with external partners to help provide the most appropriate care package to a person. When a person’s needs changed the care co-ordinator discussed this with the person and their family and adapted the care calls accordingly. Information was then relayed to carers to help ensure they had the most up to date information about a person.

We did not gain any feedback from people for this quality statement as part of this assessment.

Staff told us they would contact people's GP, district nurse or emergency services if needed. A staff member shared with us how they respected people's needs and when the person was unwell and needed to rest they respected that and recognised that by staying in their house it would have increased their anxiety.

We did not receive any feedback from partners for this quality statement as part of this assessment.

People were given the opportunity to give feedback to the agency on how they felt the care was going and as such request changes to their care calls and times.

Staff told us they visited people to monitor the service they provided to them. A staff member reported, ‘I visited [person’s name] to follow up with an initial assessment when Adjoy took over the care package. The aim is to know how the carers are doing, and further assess her care package to know if she requires any further demand or support, or complaints to keep her safe at home’.

Regular spot-check calls were made to people to check how happy they were with the care they received from the agency. These calls gave people the opportunity to give their feedback and request changes. For example, one person asked for additional cleaning hours and another person asked for a later bedtime call. We read from the notes made by staff that these requests had been taken into account and action had been taken.

People were asked for their consent prior to receiving the care from Adjoy. One person told us, It’s the first thing when [staff name] comes in and walks in and says good morning, she puts her gloves and apron on and then tells me I am ready in a minute is that okay. She asks what I would like.”

Staff took prompt action if they felt someone’s ability to consent to care was deteriorating. Staff appreciated the importance of ensuring people's care plans reflected people's ability to consent to care. We saw staff recorded in the notes they would inform people's care manager in Adult Social Care where relevant.

Staff understood The Mental Capacity Act (2005) and its principles as this was included in their training when they first commenced with the agency. This helped them understand how consent should be sought and what action they should take if they felt a person lacked capacity for a specific condition.