Folkestone Nursing 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 needs with them. People’s needs were assessed on admission and continued to be assessed to be able to address changing needs.

Care plans were written to cover a broad range of support needs and were tailored to each person to address their specific needs. The in-depth level of information captured meant staff were able to provide high quality support to people which included their needs and wishes. People were involved in assessing their needs. A relative told us, “Yes, I was involved with [person’s] care plan, I have been invited to meetings here as well [to discuss person’s needs].”

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 provider was able to provide evidence-based care and treatment. Policies were in line with national good practice and care was given in a person-centred way, in line with the person’s wishes, and people were involved in their assessment of need. The provider also worked within the framework of current legislation, including the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and the Equality Act 2010.

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.

There was good collaborative working between the service and other relevant parties. Staff had a good understanding of people’s needs and people and relatives were involved in planning their care. The service worked well with local authorities and health care professionals to help ensure people’s care needs were met. Regular staff team meetings were held which included discussions about how best to support people. We spoke with a visiting health care professional during our inspection who told us their organisation worked well with the provider.

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.
People’s health needs were covered in their care plans and risk assessments and there was monitoring of health conditions. People had access to healthcare professionals including GPs, dentists and tissue viability nurses. A person told us, “The doctor visits here regular but I have not had to see him.” Where people had dietary needs linked to their health conditions staff were aware of these. The registered manager and senior clinical staff attended a monthly meeting with multi-disciplinary colleagues including GPs and pharmacists to discuss the on-going health needs of people.
 

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.

Regular checks were carried out to check people’s health conditions. For example, where people had diabetes there was routine monitoring of their blood glucose levels. People’s weight was regularly checked to see if there was any significant weight loss or gain. Daily records were kept as the provider could check that care was carried out in line with people’s assessed needs.

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

The provider advocated for people and supported them to make decisions where this was difficult, but emphasised their right to make their own choices wherever possible. Staff told us how they get people involved in day-to-day decisions. One staff member told us, “We allow people the time to tell us what they want to do. They make their decisions and we are there to help make them happen. It can be small things such as what they want to wear for the day, we show them and let them choose.”

Where people lacked the capacity to consent, mental capacity assessments had been carried out and best interest decisions made. These covered areas including support with personal care and medicines. DoLS authorisations were in place for people as appropriate.