Caring Connections - Warrington

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's needs were not always assessed and some people were unsure as to what care they should receive. This placed people at risk of harm. People did not always have an opportunity to contribute to their care plan, and some had not seen their care plan. Where people had an assessed need, there were not always appropriate control measures recorded in their care plan or risk assessment to guide staff on how to support them safely and effectively.

This service scored 8 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People were not always aware of what support they should receive. One person told us, "I am not sure what they [staff] are supposed to do other than my personal care." Not all people told us they had not been involved in their care planning. One person said "The carers just turned up." One relative told us, "I have not seen a care plan."

Senior carers were responsible for people's care plans. One senior staff member told us, “I go to people’s houses and ask them what they want. Sometimes it is just stuff you already know, or I will ask the family.” However, not all staff were aware of people’s needs before providing support. One staff member told us, “Sometimes I read care plans or other times I just go in and ask the person.” When care plans needed to be changed, staff would contact the office to request the change. A staff member told us, “The office would update it. If I identified a change, I would contact the office and tell them.”

People’s needs were not always effectively assessed or monitored. Where one person required staff to support them with transferring via moving and handling aids, there was no risk assessment to guide staff in how to do this safely and effectively. There was no documented evidence as to what equipment was to be utilised. Records relating to people's needs were at times, unclear and contradictory. Another person who required moving and handling aids had a moving and handling assessment which stated that no equipment was required. Where there were risk assessments in place, they did not always include enough information to ensure people's needs were met. One person who was at risk of developing pressure ulcers had a risk assessment with no recorded control measures. This meant it was unclear how to support this person to manage their needs safely. People's care plans were task focused and lacked person centred detail. People had not always signed their care plan to evidence them consenting to it's contents. People’s communication needs were not always clearly documented. Where people were hard of sight or hearing, communication plans did not include information on how staff should communicate with them effectively.

We did not look at Delivering evidence-based care and treatment during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at How staff, teams and services work together during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at Supporting people to live healthier lives during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at Monitoring and improving outcomes during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at Consent to care and treatment during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.