Victoria Care 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 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 67 (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 did not always make sure people’s care and treatment were effective because they did not always check and discuss people’s health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them.

Most care plans we reviewed clearly detailed people's needs, likes and preferences. However, there were some instances of inconsistencies throughout various care plans where there had been an update on someone’s needs on one plan this was not updated throughout. For example, where someone had been prescribed a new medicine for pain this was documented in their mobility care plan, however this was not reflected in their pain care plan.

We also found some risk assessments and care plans were missing for people’s specific needs, however we fed this back to the registered manager, and they implemented these immediately.

Families we spoke with said they did not have much involvement in care planning and people suggested a more informal approach to care planning.

People’s care plans were personalised and observed care matched guidance in place for staff. For example, where someone was assessed as needing a pressure relieving cushion, we observed them to be supported with this.

The provider did not always plan and deliver people’s care and treatment with them, including what was important and mattered to them.

Whilst people had oral health care plans and staff were provided with training in how to support people with their oral health needs, we found lots of people did not have toothbrushes or toothpaste in their rooms. We raised this with the provider who promptly purchased these for all people and reiterated the importance of oral health care to staff.

Staff understood the importance of supporting people equally no matter their diverse backgrounds or needs, to protect their human rights.

We saw evidence of nationally recognised tools such as MUST (Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool) being utilised to assess people’s risk of malnutrition. People told us they were supported regularly with their hydration and nutrition needs. A person told us “[The food] is excellent - I can’t fault it. We get a choice on the day, and the portions are ok. If I want a snack if hungry, they fill us up on biscuits.”

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.

Nursing staff were kept up to date with training specific to people’s needs such as catheter care, diabetes, and epilepsy.

Clear handover documentation was in place for care staff to ensure the next shift were aware of any changes in people’s support needs.

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 and their families spoke positively about the support they received with regards to their health and wellbeing. They described being supported with dental, chiropody and optical care as well as GP visits.

People we spoke with felt encouraged to be independent or be involved in their care if support was needed.

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.

Staff understood the importance of monitoring changes in people to identify any health deterioration.

Care plans guided staff on how to recognise changes in people health and how that looked for individuals. Staff explained they monitored people “by watching for changes in physical signs like breathing, skin, blood pressure, mobility, fluid intake and mental state like confusion and anxiety.”

We saw evidence of healthcare professional input where appropriate with updates from them incorporated into care plans. For example, where staff recognised a person was refusing their meals due to them being previously assessed as requiring an alternative diet, the home sent in another referral to see if they could be reassessed to encourage them to eat to maintain their weight.

Relatives told us they felt that the home contacted them with any changes to care needs, “They’ll [staff] ring and update me every time anything changes. They’re[staff] pretty good with communication.”

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

Staff understood the importance of gaining people’s consent. People and their families told us, “They’re [Staff] good at letting her know first what they’d like to do,” and “if I need help, they’ll explain first and ask if I’m ok with it.”

Staff explained, “Everyone’s needs are different, some people who have a DOLs (Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards) in place that state they need to access the community, we will still ask people and check if they do want to, sometimes they don’t, but the minute they change their mind then we will get them ready to go.”

We saw evidence that people were supported with independent advocates where appropriate, for example to help them manage finances. This information was documented in the care plans to ensure staff were aware.