Gwen Walford House

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 good. At this assessment the rating has remained the same. 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 provider made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them. People and relatives had been involved in care planning and reviews, which were detailed. Daily handovers and meetings were completed to share changes with staff in care delivery or any concerns in people’s health and wellbeing. Additionally, there was a resident of the day process which reviewed people’s care plans, risk assessments, health records, food preferences and social activities to ensure these were all up to date.

The provider planned and delivered people’s care and treatment with them, including what was important and mattered to them. Risk assessments were in place to help identify risk factors specific to each person, such as manual handling, falls and specific clinical needs. This helped to provide staff with information on how to manage and minimise these risks and provide people's care safely. Clinical tools were used to assess the risk of skin damage, falls and malnutrition. People’s weight and fluid intake was monitored and reviewed monthly to ensure oversight at management level. People told us the quality food was good, one person told us, “The food here is excellent”. We observed there were several food choices on offer and where people changed their mind, alternative meals were provided.

How staff, teams and services work together Score: 3

The provider worked well across teams and services to support people. People were supported by staff who worked together with other healthcare professionals and external visitors. Staff shared information appropriately and timely. One external visitor told us, “I would feel more than able to raise any issues if I had any. All the staff I have met and worked with at Gwen Walford have always been very helpful on all my visits”.

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 demonstrated people had access to external professionals, these included GP’s nurses, dietitians, chiropodists, Speech and Language therapists and the dementia wellbeing team. The provider had launched a wellness programme. This was developed in collaboration with experienced wellness coaches and external professionals, focused on providing tailored exercise routines for people of all fitness levels. This was aimed to be particularly beneficial for individuals who are frail, have limited mobility, or are at risk of falling.

The provider routinely monitored people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. Care plans contained information about people’s health and wellbeing and were regularly reviewed. We identified where people’s daily care interventions were recorded, this was not always consistently completed. For example, with repositioning charts. Although there was no impact to people, we could not always be assured people were repositioned as per the guidance in their care plans. On the 1st day of our visit, we identified 11 out of 14 mattress settings were set incorrectly. We shared this with leaders who took action to review all of the services mattress settings, implement further recording checks and update the staff team of the findings. Where people had specific healthcare needs and conditions, these were reviewed regularly by the relevant external healthcare professionals. People’s current and changing needs were discussed in daily meetings.

The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. The provider was working within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty (DOLS). People and relatives told us staff ask their consent before carrying out any care tasks. People were supported in line with the Mental Capacity principles, and there were effective systems in place to support people’s rights and choices. Staff demonstrated a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act and how to ensure people’s consent was gained. One staff member told us, “We respect people, we are polite, we always listen to them, I know their likes and dislikes. I always I always ask their consent. Another staff member told us, “We need to ask permission for everything, then we can start personal care. If they say no, we would ask again after some time”.