The Fernes

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 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 face to face prior to them moving into the service. Records showed care plans were regularly reviewed and that people’s relatives were formally involved in this.

People told us staff understood their needs, and that their care was provided accordingly. For example, 1 person said “I used to shower myself, but I needed help 1 day, and I just called for staff, and I had the help rather than try to do it on my own and feel worried. I get help each time now.”

Where required, healthcare professionals were involved in assessing needs and providing guidance in line with best practice, which meant people achieved positive outcomes.

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 received effective care and support because they were supported by a staff team that received regular training and had a good understanding of their needs. Nationally recognised tools were used to assess people’s risks and additional support was appropriately sought, such as through specialist nurses.

The provider and staffing team had good links with internal and external health professionals.

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 and this was noted by people and their families as being 1 of the things they liked most about the service. One person’s relative said, “The team are extremely loyal to each other.” Staff told us communication was good within the team and they felt well informed.

Staff worked well with other health professionals and records showed advice was sought in a timely manner. One professional told us, “We have a care homes team who offer support. We did observations training with the staff with the assessment tool. This means [staff] can provide us with all the information we need if they ring us with a concern that someone is acutely unwell.”

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’s healthcare needs were assessed and care plans in relation to these were informative. People and their relatives told us they were supported to access healthcare services, both at the service and through other appointments. One person’s relative told us their family member had been unwell on arrival at the service, but that staff identified this and called the GP to come and review them. They told us their relative had also been reviewed by a dentist and optician since living at the service.

Exercise classes were available for people to attend if they chose to, which helped to promote strength and mobility.

People had enough to eat and drink and there were snacks and drinks available throughout the day. People told us there was a choice at mealtimes, and they were happy with the food provided. One person said, “We have loads of food; it's too much, but I love it.” There was oversight of people’s weight and when required, food and fluid intake was monitored and supplements and fortified diets were provided.

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 provider had good oversight of people’s care and support needs. For example, monthly clinical governance meetings and monthly visits from the provider’s clinical development nurse. These reviews included for example, monitoring of people who had wounds, weight loss, and infections. Action plans were in place and were monitored to confirm that actions had been completed. Several people’s relatives told us their family member had put weight on since moving to the service and another person’s relative said the provider had arranged for a medicine review which had improved their general wellbeing.

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

People told us staff asked for their consent prior to supporting them. One person said, “The staff are very respectful and ask me before they provide care at every stage.” People’s relatives told us they had seen examples of staff seeking consent before helping their family member with something. Where required, people had been assessed for their capacity to consent to aspects of their care. There were documents in place to show how best interest decisions had been reached for those people who were assessed as lacking capacity to make some decisions about their care.

We observed staff knocking on people’s bedroom doors before entering, offering people choices of drinks and food, including the use of ‘show plates’ at mealtimes. Staff consistently sought people’s consent and examples were seen during lunch when staff were asking people at every stage of supporting them with a meal if they were happy and wanted the support to continue.