A multi-agency learning opportunity has come about for Social Care and Health Partners and other visiting professionals at residential settings across the Yorkshire and Humber region.
We've formed a task group to gather professional care home feedback, and are working alongside:
- Integrated Care Partnerships (ICPs)
- The NYCC Quality Team
- The Adult Safeguarding Team
We want to ensure we work in a collaborative and collective manner to gather feedback from professionals who visit care homes.
The Professional care home feedback form uses the PERSON approach for professionals visiting a care home, which is intended as a guide for professionals visiting residential homes as to what to look out for in terms of the quality of care provision.
The PERSON approach
The PERSON approach considers the following factors of care provision:
Person Centred
- are peoples' clothes clean and comfortable and appropriate for the time of day or season?
- are people treated in a dignified way?
- are support plans accessible and up to date to reflect current needs and outcomes and is it clear that the person and their family are involved?
- is appropriate equipment provided, such as bed, mattress, chair, hoist - and is that equipment in good working order?
- do staff know the residents or have easy access to information in relation to their care needs and outcomes?
Environment
- does the home feel welcoming, friendly, homely and calm?
- is the home clean and tidy?
- are there any unpleasant odours?
- does the temperature in the home feel about right with good ventilation?
- is equipment stored appropriately?
- are rubbish and waste items disposed of appropriately?
Responsive
- are call bells being answered in a timely manner?
- are activities happening in the home, including for residents in their rooms?
- are staff responding to requests and recommendations made by you?
- is the manager or deputy visible in the home?
- does the home promote feedback?
Safety
- are there any noticeable safety issues, such as trip hazards or cluttered areas?
- are there appropriate Infection Prevention and Control practices in place?
- are staff trained to deliver care required to people in accordance with their care needs, wishes and preferences?
- are security and fire procedures evident?
Opportunity
- are medicines left unsupervised on tables or medication trolley left open?
- are there inappropriate requests for covert administration?
- are records and medication available when needed?
- are staff interacting positively with residents?
- are staff engaging with you as a visiting professional?
Nutrition and Hydration
- are drinks readily available and within reach?
- are people being supported to have drinks, snacks and meals?
- do the meals look appetising?
- are people being offered meal choices?
- is the dining area bright and welcoming, and meal-times sociable and inviting?
Provide care home feedback
You can use the professional care home feedback form to provide positive or negative feedback about residential care homes.
In the first instance you should provide feedback to the care home manager or senior on duty, as it's important that the home have the opportunity to remedy concerns immediately or provide further information relating to the concern. Please ensure that you also share your feedback, concerns, best practice and positive experiences from your visit to the Local Authority.
If you feel you cannot raise concerns or feedback directly with the home, then please let us know using the professional care home feedback form.
The purpose of the form is to raise feedback and quality related concerns that fall outside of the threshold of safeguarding.
Do not use the professional care home feedback form to raise a safeguarding concern, use the appropriate available routes to raise a safeguarding concern if you feel the situation warrants this.
Professional care home feedback form
Feedback gathered through the professional care home feedback form might not relate directly to work being carried out by visiting professionals, but encourages professionals to be reminded where opportunities may exist to challenge the quality of care provision, or consider positive feedback and examples of best practice.
Once you have submitted your professional care home feedback form, all feedback will be received by our All Age Commissioning Team and a decision will be made regarding next steps; for example we could provide feedback to our Social Workers or track trends in areas such as infection prevention control or nutrition and hydration, which could lead to continued personal development (CPD) and quality improvement support for our providers, or we could review our quality and contract monitoring schedule.
Raise a safeguarding concern
Where issues are identified, visiting professionals are encouraged to discuss these with the home manager in the first instance. Concerns can be escalated as appropriate within your team or organisation.
You may wish to raise a safeguarding concern if appropriate:
See the Joint Multi-Agency Policy and Procedures.
Also see