Lindisfarne Birtley

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 the last inspection 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 79 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The registered manager made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by ensuring staff accurately assessed and reviewed their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs. These were used as the basis for the care records. The care records detailed people’s needs and important information about their lives. Overall, staff actively used care records to understand people’s ongoing needs and monitor their well-being. For example, the nursing staff could readily outline people’s needs, knew the triggers that may cause individual’s to become distressed and used information about their lives to support them reduce their anxiety.

The staff team 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. Staff ensured people’s health needs were monitored and they received a nutritious diet, which, when needed, followed dietitian’s guidance. The catering staff understood people’s needs and how to promote a healthy diet. Staff closely monitored people’s health and made sure they ate and drank well and were not showing signs of ill-health.

Staff worked extremely well across teams and services to support people. They shared thorough assessments of people’s needs when they moved between different services, so people only needed to tell their story once. Staff worked closely with the local GP practice. This partnership had led to staff having access to their electronic records system. Staff found it was an extremely useful tool, as it provided them with access to correct information. When multiple professionals were involved in a person’s care, it allowed staff to readily keep abreast of medication changes following GP ward rounds. Staff found it helped them to confirm the accuracy of medical history and diagnoses when a person was admitted to the service and any changes to their care on discharge from hospital discharge.

Staff supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to maximise their independence, choice and control. Staff assisted people to live healthier lives and, where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support. Staff liaised with external health and social care professionals to ensure people received consistent care and support. Relatives reported individuals had experienced positive outcomes because the service. A person said, “I was falling a lot at home and at some point I was going to get seriously hurt. Since coming here that has stopped as the staff are always nearby, and they have been so helpful. Because of their help I am now much fitter and steadier on my feet.”

Staff routinely monitored people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. They ensured outcomes were positive and consistent, and they met both clinical expectations and the expectations of people themselves. People, relatives and professionals reported individuals had experienced positive outcomes since moving to the service because staff approaches were encouraging people to retain their skills and engage more with others. Staff work as a team to ensure people’s support needs were met. People reported individuals had experienced positive outcomes because the service. We observed staff followed best practice around providing dementia care to support people to be more social and maintain their social facades. A person said, “They are all brilliant.”

Staff told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. Staff understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act and associated codes of practice. They appropriately completed capacity assessments and ‘best interests’ decisions. People made their own choices and decisions on a day-to-day basis about what they did, what they ate and how they filled their time. Where people were not able to verbally communicate their choices, there were tailored communication plans for staff to follow, to ensure people were in control of their own lives.