Dorking Manor

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.

People’s needs were assessed, reviewed and agreed by the regional team prior to a person moving into the service. This helped to ensure only people’s whose needs could be met started to live at Dorking Manor. A relative told us, “Moving into Dorking Manor was a decision that (we) all agreed on as the best choice, and I viewed many homes. [Family member] wanted to live somewhere that felt like home and not a care home. The staff were warm, the rooms and facilities beautiful and the garden was large and varied.”

Before people moved in staff were provided with information about the person which helped staff prepare for their arrival. This included how did they want to live at the service in the sense of the delivery of care. A staff member told us, “During the handover we share information to all staff. If they don’t know something they can ask me.”

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 used nationally recognised tools to assess people. These assessments were reviewed regularly to help ensure staff had on-going information about the person which helped them identify changes and take prompt action when necessary.

Staff checked people’s weight, their risk of malnutrition, their risk of falls, their skin integrity and whether or not they needed a modified or supplemented diet.

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.

Staff worked well together, both internally and with external partners for the needs of people. This included referring people to the right healthcare professionals for their specific needs. People told us, “They have a system here. You put your name down on Monday if you want to see the doctor on Tuesday” and “A lady doctor visits on a Tuesday morning and I have my next date for the chiropodist.”

Staff built an intensive, person-centred support plan around 1 person and got appropriate healthcare professionals involved to review their skin and gastric difficulties which had prevented the person from eating well. Through this collaborative work the person was steadily brought back to a level where they could eat well and enjoy their day to day life again.

A staff member told us, “If a resident starts to lose weight we will do a full investigation and we increase snacks. If they still refuse or are not eating them we will refer them to the dietician.”

In addition to the dietician, the service worked closely with the local district nursing team, the GP, mental health, occupational therapy and physiotherapy team. The registered manager also told us, “We are lucky to have an optician who is dementia friendly and a mobile dentist who is willing to prepare new dentures for people. We are now just trying to find an audiologist who we can engage with.”

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.

Staff took appropriate steps to help people retain a good level of health. People were frequently being offered drinks and where people appeared to be sleeping staff still ensured they were offered a drink and encouraged them to take sips. Where people were at risk of malnutrition staff supported them with fortified foods or supplements and there was evidence this had resulted in people’s weights increasing.

Relatives were positive in their feedback about staff’s proactiveness. One had complimented the team on acting quickly when they noticed their family member appeared unwell and another thanked the team, telling them their family member was ‘much better now they were living at Dorking Manor saying staff had done them a lot of good and that the care and support from all the staff had helped with their recovery’. A relative told us, “It is very reassuring to know that minor medical matters are dealt with promptly and well by staff or the excellent GP who attends weekly.”

A staff member told us, “It depends on what the risk is, we sit and chat with them about risks. I check their back history, if they have had a urine infection, we make sure they are drinking fluids. If a resident displays symptoms of a UTI (urine infection) we will do a urine dip and request a visit from the GP who will decide if it’s an infection.”

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.

Staff worked with people to help improve their health and as such their wellbeing. A relative had commented the team were wonderful, had compassion, were caring and gave their family member the confidence they needed. Another mentioned how staff were going beyond and above to ensure their family member’s deteriorating condition was improving, by referring them to professionals and working as a team with reception, the activity coordinator and chef to ensure they stayed well-nourished and attended daily walks.

Some people had become more stable while living at Dorking Manor and had progressed to managing their own medication and going out independently. A relative told us, “He enjoys the food, eats well, has put on weight, stopped being constipated and looks younger and healthier now than when he moved to Dorking Manor.” As a result of improvements, some people had been supported to move back to their own homes.

One person re-engaged with a long standing passion of theirs due to the improvement in them after moving into the service. Staff worked with the district nursing team in relation to another person to stabilise their diabetes and improve their condition.

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

Staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) as capacity assessments and best interests decisions were made where people lacked capacity. Capacity assessments were thorough and detailed and there was clear evidence of the people involved in making any decisions on behalf of a person. This included for the living at the service and for the use of sensor mats in people’s rooms.

Staff told us how they sought people’s consent prior to providing care and we heard staff explain things to people, checking their understanding, before carrying out a task.