The Elms

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.

This is the first assessment for this newly registered service. This key question has been rated 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.

One relative said, “I had a meeting with the manager when my relative was admitted, the manager explained the admission process.’’

A staff member said, “We have the preadmission paperwork and care plans in place when a person moves into the home. If there are any changes, we will update the care plan and hand this over.”The registered manager told us, “We absolutely need family and friends to take part in the planning of care. We also involve people.”

People had initial care plans put in place to ensure their immediate needs were met prior to a more comprehensive plan was put in place on the provider’s electronic system.

There was 1 instance of a person being inappropriately admitted to the service; however, this was on an emergency basis to help protect the person.

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.

People were supported to have enough to eat and drink and feedback was generally positive about the food and people confirmed they had a choice. One person said, “Its fine, it’s not bad, it’s not prime. I couldn’t care less. They [staff] just say we’re having so and so. If I ask for something lighter, they would do it.” Another person said, “Delicious food, it’s nice. Yes, I get a choice.” A relative said, “The food is beautiful and cooked fresh.”

One staff member said, “We try to offer healthy meals and drinks. If a resident becomes unwell, we will monitor them. For example, food and fluid charts.” We observed people were offered choices of food and served meals efficiently, so they were not left waiting. Staff interacted kindly and well with people.

People’s needs were monitored to ensure they remained well, such as when they had bowel movements and food and fluid charts, when needed.

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 staff member told us, “I would say the communication is good. We have handovers and daily reports if we need to know anything.” A staff member said, “We use a handover and type up and send it and then it is added to [the electronic system]. Every single person is covered in the email.”

Professionals were complimentary of the service and felt staff were able to give them the information they needed about people’s needs, or changes in their health.

There was an ‘End of Day Report’ for team leaders to feedback about individuals, and general things within the home such as maintenance issues, feedback from staff, relative visits, professional visits and incidents, for example.

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.

The registered manager told us, “We do weights each month. If we notice weight loss we will contact for medical advice. We care plan this. We ensure food menus are reviewed, and people are involved in this.”

The home had a mixture of permanent residents and also those who were discharged from hospital and may only be in the home for a short time. The home worked with professionals to assess people’s needs and support people to become, or remain, independent so they could return home or move to alternative services.

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.

One person said, “[Staff member name] is great, they are organised.”A relative said, “The staff kept me fully informed always. If there was any change or worries, they would be straight on the phone.” The same relative went on to say, “My relative has become a new person since moving to The Elms. Their general wellbeing and life have improved since coming out of hospital. The care home as improved their quality of life.”

A staff member told us, “We weigh residents on a regular basis. If a resident loses weight, we will inform the GP and weigh them more often. If we notice a resident is choking or coughing when eating, we will contact the SALT [Speech and Language Therapists] team for advice.”

Staff were knowledgeable about monitoring tools they could use to ensure people remained well, such as for skin integrity, people’s weight, and food and fluid monitoring.

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

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) provides a legal framework for making particular decisions on behalf of people who may lack the mental capacity to do so for themselves. The MCA requires that, as far as possible, people make their own decisions and are helped to do so when needed. When they lack mental capacity to take particular decisions, any made on their behalf must be in their best interests and as least restrictive as possible. We checked whether the service was working within the principles of the MCA and found it was working within the principles.

A relative told us, “The staff gain consent from people. The home will contact me if they need to regarding my relatives care and support needs.”

Staff understood what mental capacity meant and how to support people. One staff member said, “We make sure we allow people to make their own decisions, but we will also check if there is any risk to what they want to do.” Another staff member told us, “If a resident doesn’t have capacity, we must support them and inform the council. We need to help them with making decisions, the social worker can help with this. We have training for mental capacity and DoLS.”

Person-centred mental capacity assessments and best interest decisions were in place to support decision making.