Ashbrook 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.

People, and others important to them, had been actively involved in assessments of their needs which the registered manager conducted prior to anyone’s admission to the care home. The assessment considered people’s personal, social and health care needs, and expressed wishes and preferences which were used to develop individualised packages of care. Managers undertook regular checks to make sure staff were delivering the packages of care and support set out in peoples care plan. Assessments were routinely reviewed and updated accordingly to reflect any changes in people needs. Staff understood each person’s needs and how these should be met.

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.

People participated in planning their care and support. People received care and support from staff according to their individually assessed needs and wishes. Their care plans were detailed and routinely reviewed and updated. Staff worked well together to meet people’s needs and wishes in line with their care plan and recognised best care practice and standards. A relative told us, “The staff are very well informed about the needs of all the residents who live at the home.” An external care professional added, “I see staff transferring people with mobility needs safely between their wheelchair and their bed.” Staff were supported to continuing doing this through ongoing training and supervision. Managers also conducted regular monitoring checks on staff’s working practices.

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.

People were supported by managers and staff who worked well-together and with other external health and social care professionals and bodies. Systems were in place to make sure information was shared in a timely manner by everyone involved in people’s care. This all helped to ensure a joined up, consistent approach to delivering safe and effective care to people in line with their individually assessed needs and preferences.

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 were supported by staff to stay healthy and well in line with their needs and wishes. Information about people’s healthcare needs was assessed and reviewed at regular intervals. People were supported to access external health and medical care professionals in a timely manner including, when they expressed that they were in pain or discomfort or showing signs of an infection. A relative told us, “The managers and staff are particularly good at maintaining appointments with multiple health care professionals, such as GPs, dentists and nutritionists.” People had a personalised health care action plans and a hospital passport in place which were used by external health and medical care professionals to support people in the way they needed and wished. Staff knew when people were unwell or in pain. They ensured people routinely attended scheduled health care and hospital appointments with multiple community health and medical care professionals including GP’s, district nurses, physios and speech and language therapists. In addition, people received support to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced diet.

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 experienced positive outcomes from the care and support provided by staff. People’s care and support was regularly reviewed to ensure this was meeting their assessed needs and expected outcomes. Staff understood how to support people to help them achieve positive outcomes in relation to their care and support needs. They monitored the care and support provided to people and knew what action to take if any improvements to this were required. Systems were in place to monitor the care and support provided to people to ensure this remained effective.

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

People were supported to understand the care and support staff wished to provide them with. This enabled people to consent to this if they wished. Staff understood people’s capacity to make decisions about their care and support using people’s preferred method of communication. Staff used this knowledge to seek consent before they provided any care and support. An external care professional told us, “Staff are good at gaining the consent of my clients.’” Managers and staff had received Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) training. The service was working within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). Appropriate legal authorisations were in place to deprive people of their liberty where this was deemed necessary to ensure their safety.