Responding to people's immediate needs

People are always treated with kindness, empathy and compassion. They understand that they matter and that their experience of how they are treated and supported matters. Their privacy and dignity is respected. Every effort is made to take their wishes into account and respect their choices, to achieve the best possible outcomes for them. This includes supporting people to live as independently as possible.

Responding to people's immediate needs

• We can evidence how we respond to immediate care needs as part of our day-to-day delivery of care.
• We can provide documented evidence of how we have promptly adjusted care to respond to the changing needs of the people we support.
• We have plans in place to manage anticipated declines in health needs (e.g., crisis plans and strategies to manage fluctuating abilities/needs).
• We ensure our staff team are effectively trained and supported to know how to monitor deterioration and use tools to respond to immediate care needs (e.g., RESTORE2, SBARD Communication tool, Advance Care Planning etc).
• We build a consistent team around a person who get to know them well and recognise if something is not quite right.
• We empower our staff to prioritise immediate care needs and wishes at the time they occur.
• In addition to our ongoing monitoring of people’s care, our staff team listens to their concerns to identify any further action needed.
• Our staff team are effective communicators who engage people in discussions about their immediate needs and an appropriate response respectful of their wishes.
• We use tools and technology (e.g., DisDat, Pain Check etc.) to help staff recognise the signs that a person who is non-verbal is in pain.
• We have clear escalation procedures and available expertise for our staff team to refer to when responding to immediate care needs (e.g., an on-call rota/extra support out-of-hours).
• We provide access to additional resources and support to help respond to people’s immediate care needs, such as adaptive equipment, pain relief medication etc.
• We use assistive technology to ensure assistance to meet people’s immediate needs can be provided in the least restrictive way.
• When people we support need to decide on a change to their care, we provide sufficient time to allow them to process and make informed choices.
• Our staff are able to dedicate extra time to providing support to help people manage their worries and anxieties.
• We effectively document how we have responded to immediate care needs, ensuring these are reflected in handover notes, care plans and other records.
• Where appropriate and agreed with the person we support, we will also update family, friends, and advocates on changes to their care needs.
• Where appropriate, we respond to people with challenging or distressed behaviour in a safe, prompt, and person-centred way.

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