Goldthorn Lodge

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.

People and a relative we spoke with all confirmed they were involved in the assessment and reviewing of their needs. Care records contained assessments of people’s needs and showed people, and their relatives were involved in this process and the regular review of people’s needs. All care plans we reviewed contained up to date information about people and their individual needs. A senior staff member told us how they had introduced a system to ensure staff understood people’s assessed needs. They said, “In supervisions now, I have added a care plan questionnaire to gain an understanding of their [staffs’] knowledge to see where they [people who used the service] need support.”

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 was aware of and implemented the right support, right care, and right culture guidance. Staff completed training in Learning Disabilities and Autism to ensure they were equipped to meet the specialist needs associated with these diagnoses. Plans were also in place to enhance this training, so staff would complete nationally accredited training in Learning Disabilities. The care people described to us and the care we observed demonstrated care was based around the right support, right care and right culture guidance. People were supported to access the community, make their own decisions about their care and seek support from professionals as required.

Standardised, evidence-based tools were used to assess people’s health needs. For example, nationally recognised tools were used to assess people’s needs relating to nutrition and skin risks when required.

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 told us they shared important information about people’s care during handovers and team meetings. Records we viewed confirmed these systems were effective. Referrals to health and social care professionals were made as required and care records showed advice from health and social care professionals was promptly incorporated into people’s care plans, to ensure their advice was followed.

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 told us and care records showed they were supported to maintain a healthy life. One person told us, “If I need a doctor or dentist, they arrange it for us to go.” Staff told us how they supported people to maintain good health. This included supporting people with health conditions such as Diabetes to eat a healthy, safe diet. The information in people’s care records matched the information staff told us when we discussed people’s health needs. This included specific needs around Diabetes.

People’s health was regularly monitored through reviews. These reviews included the reviewing of people’s dietary needs, weight and skin changes if people were at risk in these areas. Care records showed people had accessed a variety of health care professionals such as dentists, opticians, GPs and mental health nurses.

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.

People told us how staff supported them to achieve positive outcomes. For example, 2 people told us how staff supported them to access the community when this was initially something they felt unable to achieve. Staff described how they supported people to identify and achieve their goals. However, there was no system in place to record and review people’s goals and their progress with achieving them. This meant there was a risk people may not receive the support required to consistently identify, work towards and achieve their goals. The registered manager and operations manager told us how they were aware of this gap and were planning to address this. We will check progress with this at our next inspection of this service.

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

People told us their consent was sought by staff before they received care and support. Staff demonstrated they understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. They described how they supported people to consent and gave examples of when decisions were made in people’s best interests when they were unable to consent to their care. Care records we reviewed confirmed this.