The Lilacs Residential Home

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

Effective – this means we looked for evidence that people’s care, treatment and support achieved good outcomes and promoted a good quality of life, based on best available evidence.

At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good. This meant people’s outcomes were consistently good, and people’s feedback confirmed this.
 

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 provider made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them. Before people came to live at the service a full assessment of their needs was completed to ensure they could be met by the service. People and their relatives were invited to view the service to see if it was somewhere they would be happy to live.
The registered manager completed a full assessment of people’s needs in discussion with them their relatives and other involved healthcare professionals. From this assessment a person centred care plan was formulated to help staff get to know people and understand their needs. We saw care plans were regularly reviewed and updated when needed.
 

The provider planned and delivered people’s care and treatment with them, including what was important and mattered to them. They did this in line with legislation and current evidence-based good practice and standards.
The registered manager had nutritional and hydration assessments in place, where required people were placed on fluid watch to monitor their hydration levels. People’s weights were monitored and actions taken to involve other healthcare professionals when needed.
Referrals were made to speech and language therapists where people had swallowing problems and specialist diets and fluid thickeners were adhered to when prescribed.
A relative told us, “When my loved went to the service they were hardly eating or drinking at all. Staff were giving fluids on a teaspoon. They got a speech and language assessment completed and kept encouraging fluids. Now they are eating more as well. It is a testament to the care they provided.”
Care plans described how people wished to be supported with food and nutrition and what food and drinks they preferred. Staff knew people well and how to support them with their dietary needs.
People were offered a choice of meals with the main meal generally being served at lunchtime and a snack menu later in the day. We observed a lunchtime meal with people eating together and enjoying the choice of food they had chosen.
 

The provider worked well across teams and services to support people. They made sure people only needed to tell their story once by sharing their assessment of needs when people moved between different services. When transitioning between services the provider worked with people and other healthcare professionals to ensure this happened seamlessly and ensured information was shared effectively.

The provider supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to maximise their independence, choice and control. Staff supported people to live healthier lives and where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support. The registered manager liaised with the local GP service weekly for any reviews needed or monitoring of people’s healthcare needs. In addition, a frailty nurse from the GP visited weekly to complete reviews and offer healthcare support. Routine screening was arranged with dentists, opticians and footcare professionals. Where specialist appointments were needed such as with occupational therapist, speech and language therapist or with hospital specialists such as audiology, the registered manager made referrals for these. A relative told us, “The staff are very good at navigating the healthcare system and getting all the support they need, like hearing tests.”

The provider routinely monitored people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. They ensured that outcomes were positive and consistent, and that they met both clinical expectations and the expectations of people themselves. The registered manager had monitoring systems in place to monitor people’s health, such as, fluid watch, weight monitoring, infection monitoring and skin integrity monitoring tools. Tools in place gave feedback on people’s health and provided a system to flag issues early. Care plans were audited and reviewed to ensure information was accurate.
The registered manager engaged with people during regular meetings and sent out surveys. Any actions from these were shared with people. For example, feedback given in a survey was people wanted more choice with meals and to go out more. The registered manager had reviewed meals and purchased an additional wheelchair to aid with trips out.
 

The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) provides a legal framework for making particular decisions on behalf of people who may lack the mental capacity to do so for themselves. The MCA requires that, as far as possible, people make their own decisions and are helped to do so when needed. When they lack mental capacity to take particular decisions, any made on their behalf must be in their best interests and as least restrictive as possible.
The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. Staff had received training in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). Staff understood the need to gain consent from people to support them with their care needs and in making decisions.
People can only be deprived of their liberty to receive care and treatment when this is in their best interests and legally authorised under the MCA.
In care homes, and some hospitals, this is usually through MCA application procedures called the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). We saw that DoLS application had been made appropriately. Where people had a DoLS in place any conditions in place were adhered to and monitored by the registered manager.