Mellor House

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. When people were first referred to the service the registered manager completed a full assessment of their needs to ensure they could be met. Assessments were comprehensive and included physical, sensory, social and communication needs. Where appropriate, families, carers, advocates, professionals and other stakeholders were meaningfully involved in the assessment of people’s needs and reviews. The registered manager spent time working with all stakeholders involved with people’s care to ensure they gathered all the relevant information they needed to provide an up-to-date care plan to support people safely. Families told us they had good communication with staff and that they were involved in people’s care plans. One relative said, “Staff involve me with the care plan they talk to me and discuss everything.” We saw evidence of family’s involvement with written guidance to provide staff with detailed information on how to support their loved ones. There were detailed assessments in place and plans to support people with nutrition and hydration needs from the speech and language therapist. The occupational therapist provided pictorial guidance to support staff with the use of specialist equipment. Reviews were completed when needed and care plans were updated accordingly.

We did not look at Delivering evidence-based care and treatment during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at How staff, teams and services work together during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at Supporting people to live healthier lives during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at Monitoring and improving outcomes during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. Staff had received the appropriate training in obtaining consent from people. Staff knew people well and how they preferred to communicate through gestures, sounds or objects of reference. One member of staff said, “We get to know people and how they respond to things in different ways. We always give choice, focus on what people like to do and watch for reactions and expressions.”

The Care Quality Commission is required by law to monitor the operation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). The MCA provides a legal framework for making particular decisions on behalf of people who may lack the mental capacity to do so for themselves. The Act requires that as far as possible people make their own decisions and are helped to do so when needed. When they lack mental capacity to take particular decisions, any made on their behalf must be in their best interests and as least restrictive as possible. People can only be deprived of their liberty so that they can receive care and treatment when this is in their best interests and legally authorised under the MCA. The authorisation procedures for this in care homes and hospitals are called the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

We checked whether the service was working within the principles of the MCA, and whether any conditions on authorisations to deprive a person of their liberty were being met. The registered manager understood their responsibilities and the key principles of the MCA and DoLS. Where appropriate, relatives and advocates views and wishes were taken into account when care was planned.