Fethneys Living Options - Care Home Physical Disabilities

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 remained the same. This meant the effectiveness of people’s care and support did not always achieve good outcomes or was inconsistent.

We reviewed 2 quality statements under this key question. Whilst improvements have been made, these need to be sustained and embedded, to ensure people receive a consistent level of good care and support over time.

This service scored 62 (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 was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them.

Improvements had been made since the last inspection. The provider had implemented an effective system which looked at people’s care and support needs, in order to determine whether these could be met at the home. The manager said, “Referrals will come through the local authority or the NHS. We go and visit the person and ask a lot of questions. If we can meet a person’s needs, we will prepare their room and make it ready for them. The person will visit first, have a look around and meet the other residents. It can take 2 or 3 weeks for a person to become familiar with the home and many visits. Staff will also help make any decision as any potential referrals are discussed at team meetings.”

People’s communication needs were met according to their needs and preferences. For example, assistive technology supported 1 person with their communication. Smart speakers in communal areas and in people’s bedrooms enabled people to engage, for example, through listening to their choice of music.

Care plans were detailed, contemporaneous, and provided detailed and accessible information for staff and people.

Monitoring charts, where required, were completed as needed. For example, effective bowel management mitigated the risk of constipation, a heightened risk for wheelchair users.

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.

Systems for ensuring people’s rights around consent were upheld were not always effective.

We asked the manager whether people were subject to restrictions under Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). We were told there was no-one subject to DoLS and everyone had capacity; this was incorrect. DoLS is a legal framework in England and Wales designed to protect people who lack mental capacity to consent to care and treatment in hospitals or care homes. These safeguards ensure that a person’s liberty is only taken away when absolutely necessary and in their best interests.

In 1 care plan, it was documented that an application under DoLS had been submitted to the local authority. We asked to see the paperwork, but this had been lost. There was no record as to whether the DoLS for this person had been authorised or rejected. (The provider had also identified the lack of paperwork as part of an internal audit.) The provider later contacted the local authority to find out how the application was progressing.

We saw that people were routinely asked for their permission or consent before staff provided support. One person told us, “I get choices with everything, and I choose to go to bed quite early.”