Dunster Lodge Residential 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 good. At this assessment the rating has remained 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 provider made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them.

People had their needs assessed before they moved to the home. This helped to make sure Dunster Lodge was the right place for them. From initial assessments care plans were developed to support staff in providing care which was in accordance with people’s individual needs and preferences.

The provider planned and delivered people’s care 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.

Staff used recognised assessment tools to assess people’s needs. Care was provided in accordance with these assessments to ensure it was based on up-to-date practice guidelines.

People were very happy with the food provided at the care home. Comments about food included, “Food is lovely,” “They serve good healthy meals” and “The cook here is very good.”

One person told us they enjoyed the food, but they did not think there was a choice of meal. They did tell us that if they didn’t like what was on the menu they were provided with an alternative. We were shown copies of menus, but these were not displayed so it would be difficult for people to ask for an alternative in advance. We discussed this with the management team who gave assurances that options would be clearly displayed to people.

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 said they worked well together as a team. The manager and staff said they had good relationships with other local professionals which enabled them to support people to receive the care they required. One member of staff commented, “We have great relationships with district nurses and GPs always come out when you call them."

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 had access to healthcare professionals which enabled healthcare needs to be effectively managed. There was a weekly call from GP surgeries to make sure any concerns could be discussed promptly. District nurses and community mental health nurses visited regularly to support people with specific needs.

Care plans did not contain information about healthcare appointments as these were recorded separately. The manager told us they were in the process of changing to an electronic care planning system and therefore all appointments would be recorded on the new system with the care plans. This would help to make sure there were clear details of healthcare issues and actions taken.

One person told us, “They arrange the GP, nurse and chiropodist. You don’t have to worry about any of that.”

People were able to take part in some gentle exercise sessions as part of the activity programme.

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 staff carried out regular reviews of people’s care to ensure support provided continued to provide good outcomes for people. People we spoke with were happy with the care provided. One visiting relative told us, “We are very happy with the care they are getting. Staff here are very caring.” Another relative said they were very happy with the care provided and would definitely recommend it to others.

The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. Some improvements were needed to make sure people’s legal rights were protected when they lacked the capacity to make a specific decision.

Care plans gave information about people’s capacity to make day to day decisions and who should be consulted if a person was assessed as not being able to make a specific decision. However, there was no recorded information about how decisions were made in a person’s best interests if they were unable to make a decision. We discussed this with the manager who acknowledged this was an area which they needed to improve.

People who were able to give consent were asked if they were happy to be supported. During our inspection visits we heard staff asking people if they wanted to receive assistance. We saw people being offered choices and staff respected choices made.