White Cliffs Lodge

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 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. A relative told us, “Transition (person’s move into the service) went very smoothly.” Staff completed robust assessments of needs with people and gathered information from them, their representatives and services involved in their support to establish initial support plans. People’s wishes, preferences and choices were included in the assessment.

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 practice and standards, such as positive behaviour support, guidance on stopping the overmedication of people with a learning disability and the ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ statutory guidance. People living with a learning disability and/or autism were supported to access specialist services, had positive behaviour support plans when needed and their living environment and support was reviewed and improved to ensure good quality support and equity in access and outcomes. This brought positive results to people as since the last inspection some people developed their independence and skills, others settled into the service and were less anxious or received safer support thanks to timely multidisciplinary health and social care team’s inputs.

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. A healthcare professional working with the service fed back about how the service ensured good working relationships with healthcare services for the benefit of people, “We have also worked in partnership together to get treatment escalation plans in place.” This information supported staff in knowing how to escalate any health issues appropriately to other healthcare services and ensured people living with a learning disability and/or mental health support needs could access timely and effective medical attention when required. People’s records included evidence of how staff worked well with other professionals by following healthcare guidance and referring people to specialist services when needed. Staff actively advocated for people and effectively shared information about their care which was required for professionals to complete assessments.

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. A relative told us, “[Staff] managed to get [the person] supported to get COVID-19 jab. They (now) go to dentist, hairdresser, get their eye tested. [Staff] are good role models. They support [the person] in a confident and calm way. [The person] made huge progress.” People were supported to access their GP, as well as specialist services, such as nutritional support, falls specialists or occupational therapy, and to attend routine health appointments. Staff knew how to escalate any deterioration in people’s health appropriately and could clearly explain how they would access emergency services if needed.

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. A relative told us, “[The person] is 100% happy, very happy, very settled (in their home with support they receive)” and explained how this built the person’s confidence and independence in doing things for themselves. Staff told us the person gained skills in cooking, doing their own laundry and cleaning their flat and lived more independently. A staff member told us about improvements made to people’s support, “People are going out and having more of a social life. Friendships are developing.” Staff monitored people’s outcomes and achievements and included appropriate information in their support plans.

The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. Where people could not make decisions around their own care, appropriate mental capacity assessments were carried out, best interests’ decision made, and deprivation of liberty safeguards applications made to the local authority. People’s support recorded included information on how people were involved in their support and supported to express their wishes and views. Staff could explain to us how they supported and respected people’s day-to-day choices and how they involved them in their care. We saw when people expressed their choices, staff supported them to do the things they chose to do. People’s relatives overall told us they were involved in their loved one’s care and support. However, some environmental restrictions in place in the past due to people’s safety, such as locked door to the kitchen or a person’s bathroom were not reviewed and assessed appropriately at the time of our visit. The managers reviewed this immediately and found it appropriate to remove these restrictions as they were no longer needed.