Kensington Hall

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 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. People had initial assessments and ongoing holistic assessments covering all their needs. Assessments were regularly reviewed. Care plans were person-centred and detailed. Relatives said staff regularly discussed their family member’s care with them and supported people to be as involved as possible.

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. The service worked closely with GP’s, community health teams, and other professionals to ensure people received coordinated, consistent, and effective care. Health professional’s recommendations were embedded into people’s care and support plans and implemented by staff. Care records were person-centred. Where people could not share their preferences themselves, family, advocates, and other health and social care professionals supported with decision making. People were being cared for in line with their assessed needs.

Staff helped people to develop nutritionally balanced menus. People could access the kitchen freely to prepare food and drinks. If people needed staff support, they were frequently offered appropriate options. Staff followed recognised guidance where people were at nutritional risk or needed a modified diet due to choking risks. Staff had recently worked with professionals to improve someone’s weight and reduce their reliance on prescribed diet supplements.

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’s care files included copies of assessments done by other agencies and services and staff had access to these to ensure continuity of care. Staff and managers had positive working relationships with professionals. The home had an aligned GP practice, and staff and managers were proactive in raising issues and acting on advice given. Staff had a proactive approach and had raised referrals to health professionals when people’s needs had changed.

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 encouraged to stay fit and active. Staff went out for walks with people and encouraged them to eat a balanced diet. Physiotherapists had recently been involved with a person in the home to improve their mobility. Staff had been working with oral health professionals to improve the systems supporting people to have good oral health. Care plans in relation to this were detailed and people’s oral health was being closely monitored.

The provider was monitoring people’s health outcomes and demonstrating positive outcomes in this area, however more improvement was needed in the way social outcomes were set and monitored. People took part in a variety of social and leisure activities, but it was not always clear how these contributed to them developing or maintaining skills or working towards set goals. Since our previous inspection there had been some improvement and there was more evidence of how people were choosing activities, and records of what people had enjoyed doing. Further work was needed to ensure people were setting and working towards goals, and demonstrating people had consistent positive social outcomes.

Staff had supported a person to reduce their use of when required medicines, prescribed for when they were anxious or distressed. Staff had requested these be reviewed by health professionals, as they felt they were no longer needed, and the use of these had stopped.

The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. People were supported to make choices and have control over their lives. Staff worked in the least restrictive way and acted in people’s best interests. They understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), which provides a legal framework for decisions made on behalf of people who may lack capacity. Staff had MCA training, and policies followed MCA principles. Where people could not make decisions themselves, best interests decisions were in place and made with input from relatives and healthcare professionals involved in their care.