Link House

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• 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 requires improvement. At this assessment the rating has changed to 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.

People, and others involved in their care, had been involved in assessments and reviews of their care and support needs. People’s choices and preferences were used to plan their care and support needs. A relative told us, “[Family member] gets all her care needs met by the staff. We are about to have a review of her care plan. [Family member] gets exactly what she wants.”

The provider had made improvements since our last inspection. Managers now made sure information about people’s care and support needs was regularly assessed, monitored and reviewed so that people’s care plans remained up to date with information about their current needs. The registered manager told us, “We make sure the care plan is detailed and person centred and gives a detailed holistic overview of the person and their needs...We also do regular reviews with people to make sure their needs haven’t changed and involve their families. So we make sure we are regularly updating people’s care plans.”

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.

Staff were supported by managers to deliver care and support to people in line with legislation, good practice and standards. A relative told us, “I think generally speaking the staff have the skillset to look after [family member].” Staff understood people’s needs and how these should be met. A staff member said, “I thoroughly review care plans, seek clarification when needed, and ensure I listen attentively to the individual. Maintaining open and continuous communication is essential to understanding and responding to their evolving needs.”

Managers regularly assessed, monitored and reviewed people’s needs which helped them make sure care and support continued to be delivered in line with people’s individual preferences.

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.

Staff worked well together and there was good communication and information sharing between them, to ensure a consistent approach to delivering care to people in line with their needs. Managers said there were good working relationships with services involved in people’s care. The registered manager told us, “We have had a good 12 months with our healthcare professionals and we haven’t had any negative feedback from them. We have a good relationship with them.”

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 need for care and support.

People’s records contained current information about their individual healthcare needs and how these should be met. This helped staff support people to stay healthy and well in line with their needs and wishes. A relative told us, “[Family member] used to live in a house share and it was no good for her. [Family member] has her own flat now, her own carers and she is very content. She’s back to how she used to be and she’s happy and looked after and happy in the community.”

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 provider had made improvements since our last inspection. People’s care plans set out the goals and outcomes people wished to achieve from the care and support provided by staff. Staff now maintained better records of the care and support provided to people and their observations about people’s health and wellbeing. Managers reviewed these records at regular intervals. This helped them monitor the care and support provided to people to make sure this was helping people achieve their care goals and outcomes.

The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment.

Staff made sure people understood their rights around consent before supporting them. A staff member told us, “While I’m with the person I check they are happy with what we’re about to do, gaining verbal consent each time in line with the Mental Capacity Act and using simple language or visual prompts when needed.”

The service was now working within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA). The provider had systems in place to ensure mental capacity assessments had been completed with people and others involved in their care. People’s capacity and ability to consent was taken into account, and people had been involved in planning their care and support. Where people could not make decisions and consent to their care, processes were in place to make sure any decisions would be made in their best interests.