Stronvar Rest Home

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• 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.

Staff told us how they supported assessment of peoples changing needs including examples of contacting health care professionals and involving people and those close to them. Visiting health professionals told us that staff were quick to identify changes in people’s needs and continued to keep them updated on people’s progress if this was required.

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 at risk of poor nutrition, pressure area damage and risk of choking had clear risk assessments and plans of care documenting how they should be supported. Kitchen staff had clearly documented people’s risk of choking and prepared meals that met people’s individual needs so people received nutrition in a safe, dignified way that supported their health and prevented avoidable harm.

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 had been involved in their care planning and how they should be supported if they required admission to hospital which helped ensure their wishes were understood, respected and followed during transitions of care.

The provider did not always support people to manage their health and wellbeing, so people could not always maximise their independence, choice and control. Staff did not always support people to live healthier lives, or where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support.

Staff completed electronic care plan entries that had standard wording about provision of oral health care, but we observed that in some cases, whilst ticked as complete, oral hygiene equipment did not appear to have been used. The registered manager was signposted to best practice and carried out an audit of people’s oral care needs following the inspection, resulting in improved care plans in this area.

Staff were quick to identify and refer people for physical health needs. However, some people had identified as a risk of deteriorating low mood. Whilst care plans informed staff how to support them in times of distress, it did not elaborate to how deterioration in mental health should be monitored so it could be quickly acted upon. The registered manager told us they would revisit care plans to ensure this was considered.

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.

The provider had invested in an electronic care notes system and this gave the registered manager important detail to support regular reviews of people’s care and support needs. Staff were able to show us how they used the electronic system to update people’s needs. The team leader was able to give examples of when dietitian and speech and language professionals had been contacted if there were changes to people needs. A professional told us, “When repositioning and skin care regimes are implemented care plans are updated and any changes cascaded to the care team. Documentation supports that care plans are being adhered to and skin conditions tend to resolve quickly due to consisted implementation of planned care.”

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

The registered manager had assessed people’s capacity when considering interventions to manage risks, so that the least restrictive interventions were put in place. This included the use of bed rails.

Staff were frequently observed asking peoples permission to support them. Some people were still in bed following breakfast because that was their choice. One person told us, “I don’t get forced to do anything I don’t want to do. I like to get up really early as I have always done.”