The Old Vicarage

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 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 was 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. Personalised care plans and risk assessments effectively guided staff as to the care people required. We discussed one care plan with the registered manager where further detail would be useful, and the registered manager agreed to review this. Care plans were underpinned by recognised assessment tools for areas of risk, such as malnutrition and pressure sores. This helped to identify any actions needed to help protect people from these risks. Care plans were updated with changes when required and reviewed on a regular basis with people. One person told us, “Oh yes I have read it and reviewed it, it’s no secret, it’s well documented.”

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. For example, the registered manager used an evidence-based approach to people’s dementia care and food hygiene standards had been rated as ‘very good’ with the highest food hygiene rating available. People spoke highly of the meals they received. Menus were developed with people and were incorporated into regular celebratory and cultural events, such as ‘Burns Night’ and people’s birthdays. We asked one person about their meals, and they said, “Where can I start, I have never had a tough piece of meat yet. The puddings and cakes are lovely, everything that is provided is nice. I have my meals in my room unless we have a celebration meal. They did a meal [after a personal event] and it was a feast for a king.” People had ample choices and could choose something different from the planned menu choices. Kitchen staff knew people’s dietary needs, such as whether people required diets of a different texture or if meals needed extra fortification. Snack and water stations were in communal areas, and hot drinks and juices were offered throughout the day.

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 told us there was a team approach to making things work at The Old Vicarage. One staff member told us, “We don’t all have the same strengths, so we help each other, we have good communication and staff meetings. The manager does supervision and appraisal meetings and observes how we work.” Important information on people’s care needs was readily available to be shared with other health care professionals should, for example, a person required a transfer to hospital. This helped to ensure their care needs would continue to be met. Health care professionals who also provided care to people living at The Old Vicarage told us they worked well with the staff team. For example, they told us, “Our team work holistically with the care staff to meet the care needs of people.” A regular ‘ward round’ was organised and meant people had regular access to see their GP. One person told us, “I have just seen the GP now, they usually come on a weekday, they are good.” Regular ‘handover’ meetings between the staff team ensured any updates were effectively communicated.

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.

People told us how they were supported to manage their health and well-being. One person told us they had been successful in managing their weight with the help of the kitchen and care staff. They told us this was important to them and would help their future health plans. We observed another person undertaking their daily exercises, they told us, “I like to exercise every morning by walking.” Other people told us how staff helped them. For example, one person told us, “I have to wear compression stockings, the staff help me to put them on.” The service supported people to achieve their health and well-being goals.

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. The registered manager had oversight of people’s health care monitoring. For example, they monitored changes in weight and took action to obtain input from other healthcare professionals where needed. They monitored people’s fluid intake to ensure people were receiving enough to stay hydrated. A relative told us, “I feel that the Vicarage team are monitoring [my family member’s] health well, keeping the family appropriately informed of health issues as they develop and are also escalating anything to the emergency services as they need to.”

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

People were asked for their consent. One person told us, “The staff do ask before doing anything.” Our observations showed staff explained to people what was happening. One staff member told us, “We always carry people along, we explain to them why we are there.” Information was available on advocacy services should people need to access this. This would help ensure people’s rights were supported.