Dean Park

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 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 provider made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them.

People’s needs were thoroughly assessed prior to them moving to the service. This included checks on people’s communication, health needs, medication, and likes and dislikes. Staff told us they had enough information about people’s needs when they moved to the service. One staff member commented, “Before people come to the service, management visit them and a copy of existing care plan is obtained, we all read this. When they move in the team leader or [manager] will update on [our online care planning system] and adjust as needed. It works.”Leaders also completed a compatibility assessment for new people moving to the service, to ensure the move did not negatively impact the people already living at Dean Park.

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 guidelines.

Staff used evidence-based tools to assess people’s needs, including the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST). MUST is a tool used to identify if people are malnourished or at risk of undernutrition. People’s care was regularly reviewed to ensure it remained up to date. People told us the care they received was in line with their preferences and were involved in the creation and review of their care plans.One leader had completed a Train the Trainer course in moving and handling, enabling them to staff in safe techniques in a bespoke way. This was updated annually. The Nominated Individual was also a qualified pharmacist which meant they were in touch with the latest guidance and best practice in relation to medication.

The provider worked well across teams and services to support people. However, staff felt they did not always work well together as a team.

We received mixed feedback from staff about how they worked together. Comments from staff included, “Yes we are a nice bunch” and “We work well as a team”, however, other staff told us this was inconsistent. One staff member also felt some staff did not contribute enough and were on their phone a lot. We raised this with leaders.

However, there were processes to support effective team working such as handovers and team meetings. Staff meetings took place monthly. Staff worked well with other services and health professionals to reduce the need for hospital admission.We saw evidence of staff working well together. For example, staff had worked together to reduce the number of incidents for one person at the service. Staff had also recently won an award for supporting older people with a learning disability. We saw evidence of leaders discussing the mobile phone policy in team meetings.

The provider always supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to fully maximise their independence, choice and control. Staff supported people to live healthier lives and where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support.

Staff encouraged and supported people to live healthy lives. Leaders explained how they had encouraged 1 person to stop smoking. Leaders told us, “This has had a positive impact to [person’s] life. [They are] much healthier and less prone to chest infections. [They are] also enjoying the flavour of food more and are proud of their achievement.”

Another person had a diagnosed condition and was at risk of self-neglect. The manager identified this and encouraged the person to complete a training course in this area to help them understand the importance of managing this condition. The person completed a training course and obtained a certificate for this. The person was proud of their achievement and told us, “I did a recent training course and I got a certificate. I am looking forward to doing more courses.” The person also told us this training course has had a positive impact on their condition, and the person was no longer neglecting themself.

One relative told us how their family member, who was previously overweight, had been supported to lose a lot of weight due to them being more active. This meant the person had a healthier body mass index.

The manager also told us they had found that some people did not eat a lot of fruit and vegetables. The manager told us, “I decided to try making a smoothie to see if people would drink it. I got some of the individuals to prepare the fruit, and in the end, everyone wanted to try it. So, I said what we'll do is buy a smoothie maker.” This meant people consumed more fruit and vegetables which supported a healthier lifestyle.

The provider monitored all people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. They ensured that outcomes were positive and consistent, and that they fully met both clinical expectations and the expectations of people themselves.

Staff monitored people’s health needs using a health action plan, which demonstrated people received regular healthcare checks. This included current health concerns and how these were managed and routine screening checks. This enabled staff to have clear oversight to people’s health needs and screening checks which improved people’s health related outcomes.

People had person centred goals, which were set by people at the start of each year. These included becoming more independent around the home such as recycling, cooking and completing health and safety checks, and other goals such as day trips. Staff recorded the progress of these goals on a 'Monthly Lived Experience Audit'.

We saw people were supported to exercise, such as swimming and cycling. This further promoted people’s health and wellbeing,

The provider engaged with a positive behaviour support [PBS] company. This enabled people to achieve better outcomes. The company had fed back to the provider; “We have found Optimal Living [the provider] to be invested in PBS and utilising the framework to achieve the best possible outcomes and best support for individuals living in the services… The organisation supports individuals to achieve their own goals, continually strive to develop independence and maintain high quality of life.”

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

Staff followed the Mental Capacity Act and best interest process where people lacked capacity. We observed staff consistently asking for people’s consent during the inspection. For example, staff asked people if inspectors could enter their rooms and used people’s preferred communication method when doing so.