Hill House

On this page

• 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. At our last assessment we rated this key question inadequate. At this assessment the rating has changed to good. This meant people’s needs were met through good organisation and delivery. Staff supported people in line with their preferences, likes and dislikes. People were supported to feed back about their support and information was available in formats that made sense to them. They were also supported to identify and follow their interests. Staff supported people with dignity and respect at the end of their life.

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 now 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 relatives told us staff knew them well and supported them in line with their preferences, likes and dislikes. Staff spoke and engaged with people in line with their interests and their specific care and support needs. For example, one person did not like staff being too close to them, so staff supported them at a distance which they felt comfortable with. One person said, ‘‘[Staff] are really gentle with me and know exactly how I like things done. I can be quite specific, but this is never a problem for them.’’ A relative told us, ‘‘We are really impressed with how [staff] treat [family member] as their own person. [Staff] know them really well.’’ Staff spoke with us about how they had been encouraged to give people person centred care. They knew people well and spoke with us in detail about how staff liked to be supported. People’s care and support plans were detailed and gave specific guidance about how to support staff in line with their likes and dislikes.

The service now understood the diverse health and care needs of people and their local communities, so care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity. People and relatives told us they were supported by a consistent staff team who they had gotten to know well. One person said, ‘‘I know all the staff team here and they are all lovely. They talk with each other like they are friends as well.’’ One relative explained how staff kept up to date with any changes to their family members support based on health professionals’ advice. They said, ‘‘I feel completely assured that staff know how to help [family member] and keep up to date with what they need. I have no worries at all.’’ Staff told us they were able to give consistent care to people and shared anything that worked well for the person whilst supporting them with the rest of the staff team to promote best practice. They also told us any advice from other professionals was recorded and shared with them in a timely manner. The management team monitored staffing levels to make sure they were consistent and ensure care and support plans were kept up to date.

The service now supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs. Staff spoke with people calmly and clearly. They knew people well and responded to their signs such as body language to support them in line with how they communicated. People were offered choices in a variety of ways according to their support needs. One person said, ‘‘[Staff] know I find it difficult to make choices unless I see what is on offer so they always show me what I can choose from.’’ Staff were trained in the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) and knew how to support people with different communication needs. For example, they offered physical choices to people or used pictures to help people make a decision. Documents such as complaints policies were available to people in accessible formats.

The service now 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. People were supported to speak up and give feed back about their care and support. One person said, ‘‘We always have discussions about my support, and they always listen to me and do what I want.’’ Another person said. ‘‘I know how to complain but have no need to.’’ A relative told us, ‘‘We have regular checks about [family member’s] care plan. They will phone me to discuss it and any changes that are needed. I feel really involved with this.’’ Staff supported people to feed back about their care and support in formal meetings and discussions with them. They also talked to people throughout the day to get direct feedback about how they were being supported. Meetings were held with people and relatives to collect feedback on a regular basis. Policies such as a complaints policy were in place to support people and relatives to feedback about the service. These were effective in monitoring complaints and taking actions in relation to them.

The service now made sure that people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it. People told us staff supported them to see health professionals if they needed to. One person said, ‘‘[Staff] help me see [health professional] whenever I need it.’’ Staff knew the signs to look for which may indicate people needed more support from health professionals. They recorded advice from health professionals and people’s care plans and risk assessments were updated as a result of this.

Staff and leaders now 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. People and relatives told us they were supported to follow their interests, and they enjoyed the opportunities at the service. One person said, ‘‘[Staff] do lots of things for us. We have bingo, quizzes and sing a longs. It’s up to you if you want to join in. There’s a lot more happening here now.’’ A relative told us, ‘‘There is a new activities staff for the afternoons, and they are trying to do different things now. They also have a vicar that visits and if they have a service which family member likes to go to.’’ The manager showed us specific care plans they had created which were full of evidence of people enjoying their interests. These care plans contained a lot of information about how people liked to spend their time. They were discussed and updated with people regularly. This had a very positive impact for people. Staff were passionate about supporting people to have good experiences. The staff member dedicated to ‘activities’ was passionate about engaging with people and seeing how best to support them with their interests. They shared this with other staff members so they could also support people with these. As a result, people’s experiences at the service had improved a lot since our last assessment.

People were now 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. Staff supported people with dignity and respect at the end of their life. One relative told us, ‘‘We know [family member] is starting to need more support. We feel very happy that they are living at the service as we know this is where they will get the best support.’’ Staff knew how to support people at the end of their life and how to ask for more support from other services. People had been supported to put plans in place for the future including the ends of their lives. These were detailed and gave good guidance to staff about how people wanted to be supported at the end of their life in line with their wishes and preferences.