Abbey Grange Care Home

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

Significant improvements had been identified in relation to the development and content of the care records. The nominated individual had introduced a new electronic care recording system since our last assessment. Care plans and assessments were more detailed and included information about how to ensure people’s individual needs were met. Daily records and monitoring charts demonstrated the care provided by the staff team. Where one person’s record required updating in relation to an up-to-date weight, the nominated individual took immediate action to address this. A member of staff had been allocated as care plan champion this meant they were able to share their knowledge and understanding with the staff team to ensure records were individualised and person centred. Audits and monitoring of care records were being completed and included information about the care that they received. This would ensure they were up to date.

Staff told us improvements had been made in the development, recording and reviews of care records and said people and relatives were engaged and involved in reviews. They said, “Care plans are written and updated by the manager and seniors. We have handovers every day, if people’s needs change, this is shared in handovers” and, “Seniors and managers write and review care plans. We call families and see if they want any changes added to care plans.”

There was evidence people and relatives had been involved in the development and review of care records. People and relatives told us they had been involved in their development and reviews. One said, “The home (Service) knows my rights and keep me up to date and involve me with anything around [persons’] care.”

The service 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.

We saw significant improvements in the support provided to people to people with their meals and the meal time experience. A varied menu plan was in place and on display. The service had developed innovative ways to promote healthy eating and engaging people with meal preparation and choice. Information about meals and their nutritional values included relevant guidance to support healthy eating. The nominated individual told us they had been asked to share this good practice with providers in the local area. Staff had access to a range of information, materials and guidance as well as polices with links to best practice guidance to support the care provided to people.

Care records detailed people’s individual needs in relation to their meals including their likes and dislikes, to support them with their care.

People and relatives were positive about the food provided to them. They told us, “They (staff) know how to support [person]. They didn’t want to eat or drink when they came here and look at them munching on snacks with a cup of tea” and, “We can eat what we want when we want and there’s always plenty of food drinks and snacks when we want them.”

We observed the meal time experience and meal activities provided to people. People had choices of their meals, and they looked appetising. Staff were seen supporting people with their meals safely, whilst wearing appropriate PPE as required. Plentiful supplies of food was seen and was stored safely in the kitchen and store room. The kitchen was clean and tidy, and guidance was on display to remind staff about accessing it safely. The services most recent food hygiene inspection had increased to a five-star rating.

Staff were positive about the food provided to people and how it supported their needs. They told us, “We have a weekly snack planner, every day is a different theme for example milkshakes or toast, residents help decorate the toast and choose what they want on it. On another day we do a water challenge, the person who drinks the most water wins a prize, this is to encourage people to drink and prevent dehydration. The milkshakes are fortified for people that are losing weight. Some people don’t need to gain any weight, so they won’t be offered unless they ask for one” and “Mealtimes are relaxed, we also support people in their bedrooms. No one is currently on any special diets, no diabetics.”

The service 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.

The service had made improvements in how they worked with partners in supporting people’s needs, likes and choices. Most partners told us about the improvements in the service since our last assessment.

We saw professionals visiting the service during the assessment. We discussed the importance of building on positive professional relationships with the wider partner team and the management with the nominated individual as this would promote positive outcomes for people.

We saw evidence in care records which confirmed people were seen by professionals as required and that assessments of their needs had been undertaken. A relative confirmed health partners reviewed people as required and they would be informed about any reviews. They said, “The doctor will ring me first if there is anything.”

The service 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 range of information was available to support people to make healthy lifestyle choices with regard to improving people’s physical and mental health, food and nutritional choices and engagement with them. People had access to healthy options and activities that promoted people’s health and wellbeing.

People and relatives told us the service promoted improvements in their lives and wellbeing. They said, “They sometimes have a walk with me to the corner shop if its nice weather we can go in the garden.” One relative talked about the positive impact on people’s health and well-being since they moved into the service. We observed an interactive fitness routine online which encouraged people in gentle exercises. Staff told us they accessed this service weekly; we saw people and staff taking part in this activity.

We saw professionals visiting during the assessment. The nominated individual told us they visited weekly to review people’s health needs as this was required. Care plans demonstrated people had been seen by professionals including, the GP, dietician and social worker. Daily shift handover records were detailed and included information and updates about each person, including health needs.

The service 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.

Records contained information about people’s needs, likes and choices. We saw information about where people had been reviewed by professionals. Most partners were positive about the improvements which had taken place since our last assessment. However, a partner discussed that engagement between them and the provider had improved but further work was required to improve this further.

Staff told us how they supported people to make improvements in their lives. Comments included, “I think people’s quality of life has improved, people have a social life and go out into the community” and “We do chair exercises to keep people active. We join a meeting once a week where a session is led by a gym who do chair exercises and encourage fitness, we take the iPad to people’s bedrooms so people who stay in their bedrooms can also get involved.” Staff were seen supporting 1 person to access the local gym regularly and extra staff were on shift to support people to access activities such as walks in the local community.

A range of information and guidance was on display in the office, staff room and communal areas. This included information about people’s health conditions. Up to date information about best practice guidance, such as oral care was available to staff in policy and guidance. This supported people in accessing good oral care. Daily records, care charts and checks were in place in the electronic system. These were up to date and provided evidence about the care people received.

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

Care records confirmed consent had been sought from people. Records also confirmed capacity assessments and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards applications (DoLS) had been submitted as required to the assessing authority. Where DoLS applications had been approved these were mostly reflected in people’s care plans and risk assessments, these included information about any conditions and how these would be met by the service. We saw one person’s DoLS approval detailed that they required bed rails on their bed however, when we checked this was not in place. The nominated individual took immediate action to ensure this was in place prior to the end of our assessment.

Staff demonstrated their understanding of mental capacity and DoLS, how to protect people from unlawful restrictions and seeking consent from people. Staff told us, “We always ask for consent before we do anything” and, “Quite a few people have a DoLS in place, some have conditions on their DoLS such as getting out the home once a week. We make sure this happens.” We observed staff asking for permission before undertaking any care or activity and knocking on doors before entering people’s rooms.