Uplands House 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 71 (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 participated in their assessments and reviews. People had communication care plans in place and documents which detailed their care and support requirements to take to hospital with them when required.

Staff and those who knew people well were also involved in people’s assessments to ensure their views and opinions were captured. Staff told us people’s views were sought during daily support and in key worker meetings with them.

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.

Care plans outlined the support people required to maintain good nutrition and hydration. Staff ensured people had enough to eat and drink and where there was a concern in this area, staff had completed a referral to the relevant health professional requesting additional support. This prevented people’s health deteriorating.

Universally recognised tools were used to continually assess people’s needs, such as relating to skin health and nutrition and provided a good standard of assessment. Where risks were identified, care plans included clear guidance for staff. This included positive behaviour support plans for people who could become anxious. For 1 person, a healthcare professional advised them to complete daily exercises to help manage their condition. We reviewed this person’s records which did not evidence the person was offered the exercises daily. We spoke with the registered manager about this who advised the person regularly declined to partake in the exercises. However, they were responsive and have shared with us a new recording chart they will be implementing to accurately record when exercises have been offered.

People were supported to maintain relationships with friends and family through visits and by making phone and video calls, this enhanced people’s social skills and maintained their wellbeing.

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.

The provider had processes in place to ensure care and support was coordinated in the best interests of people using the service. This included collaboration with professionals and information sharing.

We sought feedback from health and social care professionals who worked closely with the service. They told us the provider kept them informed and sought their advice. One professional told us, “The service escalates concerns promptly, liaises with the appropriate agencies and they are responsive.”

People’s goals, dreams, and aspirations were always communicated so a consistent approach was maintained between services.

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.

Care records captured the support people required with their health needs and what action staff should take when there was any deterioration to an individual’s health. This meant there was early detection when people became unwell.

Relatives told us people were supported to lead healthy lives. One relative told us, “I feel my relative is supported to lead a healthy life. They receive positive support and care is tailored to their individual needs. My relative is given choice to maintain their independence.”

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 worked collaboratively to plan and deliver people’s care, reduce risks, and achieve best outcomes for people.

One relative told us, “Staff are very diligent and generally all the staff are caring. The senior staff, and permanent staff are very good at looking after my relative’s wellbeing. The staff do make my relative aware of the risks and side effects of any medication and do discuss this with the family.”

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

Where necessary, mental capacity assessments were mostly completed in line with the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005. Best Interest (BI) meetings were held, following the mental capacity assessments where the person was determined to lack capacity.

However, we observed CCTV was in place in communal areas. MCA’s and BI meetings had not been held with people who may lack capacity to consent. We spoke with the registered manager about this who told us they were aware of this and had put it on their action plan but had not had time to complete them. Following our discussion these were completed, we reviewed them and had no further concerns.

A DoLS tracker was in place to ensure the provider knew when these needed to be reapplied for.

We reviewed people’s care records which demonstrated consent was sought and observed staff gaining people’s consent. Staff told us they always sought consent from people and explained to them what they needed to do to support them safely.