Ashington Gardens

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.

Under the previous registration 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 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. Following referrals from the local authority, a thorough pre-assessment process was carried out. Some people started attending the college before taking up residence at the home and so had got to know some of the other people living there. The pre-assessment meetings were attended by the person, their relatives, the registered manager or other senior member of staff and any other professionals involved in the person’s care and support. People’s move into the home setting was gradual and was dependent on what suited the person. Some attended first just for a meal and to look around, others visited for the day and then perhaps, overnight. People were able to transition into the home at their own pace. Reviews were carried out each term. We spoke to a relative who confirmed, “Pre- assessment, he was already in college so a lot was already known but we still had visits and completed paperwork. Likes dislikes, routines etc. They gathered a lot of information. He then went for a night and then a weekend.”

The registered manager 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 were involved in their ongoing care and support provision. Decisions were made with people and in their best interests to make sure they lived their best lives. A person was unexpectedly diagnosed with a medical condition that required immediate and then ongoing, daily support. The person was fully involved in the planning around the support and medical interventions needed. Clear guidance and information provided to the person helped them understand the need for the required daily interventions which they accepted with no raised concerns or anxiety. Professional partners and relatives of the person concerned all told us how well the quickly developing situation was handled by the service which included introducing some immediate training for all staff involved in supporting the person.

The registered manager 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. Key information about people’s health and wellbeing needs were held within care plans and these could be summarised in a shorter document to accompany people to their appointments or in the event they needed to attend hospital. Nearly all of people’s appointments were arranged with them by the registered manager and their team. The registered manager was in the process of establishing relationships with health and social care professionals which made sure that people received the support they needed in a timely and appropriate way. A relative said, “They co-ordinate appointments. They provide a continuity of care, some staff come in on their days off for this and this makes them (person supported) happy.” Another added, “During a hospital visit where they had to stay overnight, they arranged for a staff member to stay with them which was a great comfort in an unfamiliar environment.” A professional said, “They are months ahead of other care homes I have worked with when supporting a resident with newly diagnoses. This is a significant achievement and reflects the high standard of care and commitment being delivered by the team.”

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. Care plans described people’s nutritional and hydration needs and listed likes, dislikes and food and drink preferences. Staff encouraged people to have healthy options, not exclusively but as regularly as possible and to steer away from eating too many meals that were less healthy. We saw people enjoying help to prepare their food and then some people sitting together to eat. Staff supported throughout but were not intrusive, letting people do as much of then preparation as safely possible. A relative said, “Yes, they have choice. I have been there at mealtimes and seen them help preparing food, being offered choice. Cupboards are clearly marked and they know where their things are.” A person told us, “Food nice, yes, sometimes, quite often.” Everyone had regular appointments with local GPs and other professionals to make sure their general health needs were met.

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’s health needs were regularly reviewed. People had regular appointments with their GP and specialist health and social care support as needed. These processes enabled the early diagnosis of a health condition which could have been life threatening if not detected and managed appropriately. Due to the regular monitoring of people’s health this situation was quickly addressed and the person had resumed living a healthy life. Some people occasionally expressed significant distress. This was known about and risk assessments were in place but incidents had not be fully eliminated. Careful monitoring of people had helped staff to recognise the situations that may lead to these incidents and put in place avoidance techniques. This had in turn reduced the number of these types of incidents from taking place. Although people were not routinely weighed at the time of the assessment this was a tool that had been recently used to monitor the impact of a person’s changing diet. People’s sensory needs were considered and met with some needing support with hearing and speech.

The registered manager told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. Staff knew the importance of gaining consent from people before supporting them with any task or activity. Staff understood that there were situations where some people could not verbally consent to the support that they needed and therefore they relied on techniques to explain what they wanted to achieve. Staff told us they understood body language and signs from people that they were happy to engage with them and consent but that if there were indications they were not happy, then they would not force people to do things they objected to in the moment. Staff told us they sometimes used prompts as a suggestion to people about what they wanted to do, for example, getting cutlery out of a drawer to indicate it was time to start preparing food. With activities, if people were not engaging then staff would delay and try again later.