Quality and Compliance
Annual Review
Northern Case Management is fully committed to providing a client focused service and with this in mind we have been seeking annual feedback from our clients through our service user questionnaires. NCM understands the importance of our client’s feedback to aid the quality of our service provision and ensure that our clients’ individual needs are continually being met. In each of the following sections we look at what we do well, where we have made improvements and areas we can continue to improve upon.
Involvement & Information
What we do well
One of NCM’s main priorities is to involve our clients in their care and treatment, something which our clients acknowledge:
"86% of our clients know who to discuss any changes with their care"
Where we have improved
NCM continues to promote the importance of consulting with our clients on a daily basis about any personal requirements, resulting in 87% of clients now reporting that they feel consulted. With 100% stating that they are offered different alternatives.
NCM’s aim for improvement
Although our clients report they know who to discuss their care with, only 86% feel able to discuss their care plan with their NCM representative. Case Managers are focusing on empowering all of our clients to be actively involved with their care plan at every opportunity and discuss these formally at team meetings.
Personalised Care, Treatment & Support
What we do well
NCM are committed to tailoring care to each individual, something which is reflected in our client’s feedback:
‘100% of our clients feel treated with dignity by NCM’
‘100% of our clients feel that they have enough privacy’
NCM’s aim for improvement
Only 77% of NCM’s clients reported that they felt they had enough say in their care and treatment. NCM will focus on this element with Case Managers promoting this at team meetings and including this as a standard item on the agenda.
Where we have improved
One area that NCM are working on is to ensure that all our clients will be satisfied in relation to their ethnic and cultural needs. We have increased our clients’ satisfaction in this area from 88% to 93%. Achieved by ensuring that our clients Initial Needs Assessment’s and our Care Management Plan were updated to reflect this by including a cultural and ethnic needs section.
Suitability of Staffing
What we do well
NCM aims to provide tailored and specialist support to clients and their families by employing and managing staff to meet the individual’s needs, something that our clients recognise:
"100% of our clients feel that their support team are trained to meet their requirements"
Where we have improved
In the previous questionnaires only 83% of clients felt that their staff received enough training to meet needs, we are delighted that this has now increased to 100%.
Quality & Management
What we do well
The monitoring of NCM’s service provision is essential in order to ensure that NCM consistently meets the needs of our clients. Receiving feedback is therefore crucial to enable us to continuously improve upon the quality of the services we provide and NCM are pleased to report that:
‘100% of our clients who expressed an opinion felt that their complaints are listened to and understood by their Case Manager’
Where we have improved
Previously only 67% of our clients felt that they knew how to make a complaint, which has now increased to 71.5%. This can be attributed to NCM implementing a clear and precise complaints procedure to ensure that any complaints reported have a satisfactory outcome.
Client Feedback
At Northern Case Management we are constantly striving to provide the best possible care and service to every one of our clients, this is why we appreciate it so much when we receive feedback on our services. Whether it be telling us we have done a fantastic job or letting us know how we could have been more helpful, any feedback helps us to understand which areas of our business are working and which areas we need to improve so don't hesitate to tell us about it.
Every bit of advice we recieve helps us to understand the needs of our clients a little more and means that they can feel safe in the knowledge that we are trying our absolute hardest to give them the care that they and their families deserve.
Contact one of our team today on 0161 763 4734 for some friendly and professional advice. Whatever your situation, we promise we will do our best to help.
CQC Inspections and Ratings
Latest Improvements made to exceed CQC requirements
- Medication records, policy, procedures and MARS updated in line with Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s professional pharmaceutical guidance to exceed regulatory requirements.
- Medication training updated to reflect changes and ensure repeated competency checks rolled out to all NCM employed staff.
- An improved record and plan for formally reviewing capacity and consent to care and treatment.
- Online access to resources for support staff.
- Improved recruitment checks on employment history
Head office, Bury:
Following our latest inspection in May 2019 Northern Case Management has received an overall rating of GOOD. Here are some of the comments from the report -
About the service: Northern case management is domiciliary care agency which specialises in case management and provides support and personal care for adults and children with an acquired brain and spinal cord injury.
People's experience of using this service: People were supported with a tailored package of care that was exceptionally personalised to their preferences and aspirations. People told us they were supported consistently by staff who knew them and their care needs very well. Staff were especially kind and caring and people considered their support team to be "part of the family."
People were highly involved in all aspects of their care. Staff supported people to choose adapted equipment and resources that were most suited to the individual's specific needs. Care records were remarkably detailed and specific to the person being supported. People's choices and preferences, privacy and dignity and enhancing independence were all considered and consistently reflected and promoted within these records.
The service had an exceptionally positive approach to risk taking. People and relatives told us the team would work extraordinarily well together to find a solution to any potential barriers to enable people to reach their goals and access activities.
Staff and management were well trained and had superb knowledge and experience to provide support tailored to the person they were supporting. Staff told us they received all the support and information they needed to do their job. They felt listened to and valued by the management team. There were quality assurance processes in place and the manager used information from accidents, incidents, complaints, other audits and feedback to deliver a high quality service and drive improvement.
Some of the brilliant feedback from our clients/client's families/support workers and other healthcare professionals included comments such as -
"I am confident that [name of relative] is safe" and "I feel safe. They [staff] protect my interests and won't let anything bad happen to me."
"Staff are on top of all the training they need" and "I have no doubt that my clients lives are enriched and enhanced through their involvement with staff from NCM."
"I can choose things for myself and everything is perfect."
"[My relative] smiles and laughs a lot with staff so I know he is happy with them."
Staff member - "Promoting independence is part of the ethos of what we do. We set goals with people and listen to them about what they want to achieve."
Client - "I know I can change things if I want but everything is perfect."
NCM will continue to strive to meet and exceed CQC’s standards. We thrive on feedback and will always aim to learn from it to improve our services to clients and their families.
Leeds Office:
Following our latest inspection on 3 May 2017 Northern Case Management has received an overall rating of GOOD for all our areas of intervention.
Some of the brilliant feedback from our clients/client's families/support workers and other healthcare professionals included comments such as -
"Northern Case Management (NCM) Leeds Office provide a caring person centred professional service to the cases on which I have been involved. Conscientious approach applying expert knowledge about brain injury rehabilitation in order to support service users and their families. I would recommend this service"
"I have always found NCM to be sensitive, supportive and caring. The Case Manager appears to have a good relationship with her clients and their families"
"All of the staff are well trained and know what to do.", "Very thorough training" and "The best training I have ever had."
"I have always found the service to be safe, well managed and effective. We have had several professionals meetings during this time and have found the CM and the other professionals to be just that, professional in their approach. Any identified actions are followed through and relevant information is passed on." Another stakeholder said, "I have always found Northern Case Management to be a professional organisation, who I believe have provided a good service to their clients."