St Neots Neurological Centre

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

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 as Good. At this assessment the rating has remained Good.

This meant people’s outcomes were consistently good, and people’s feedback confirmed this.

We have not awarded this service a score for Effective.

Find out about when we will not publish a key question score and what we look at when we assess Effective.

The service maximised the effectiveness of people’s care and treatment by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them.

We reviewed 6 care records and saw that staff completed a comprehensive mental health assessment of the patient in a timely manner at, or soon after, admission. Staff began assessing patients’ needs prior to admission at their referral assessment visit.

We reviewed 6 care plans and saw that these were personalised, holistic and recovery oriented. Care plans included input from different professionals including nursing staff, occupational therapy staff, psychologists, speech and language therapists and physiotherapists.

Care records showed a collaborative approach between staff and patients with patient views recorded in care plans where patients had the capacity to do so. Where patients did not have capacity to understand their care plans, staff included their family members views in care planning.

Staff completed a number of specialist assessments including daily living skills assessments, mobility assessments, and cognitive assessments.

The service planned and delivered people’s care and treatment with them, including what is important and matters to them and in line with legislation and current evidence-based good practice and standards.

Staff provided a range of care and treatment interventions suitable for the patient group. The interventions were those recommended by, and were delivered in line with, guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

The service provided a range of activities for patients including cooking and meal preparation, exercise groups and walks out into the community, social groups and sensory relaxation and massage group sessions.

The team included or had access to the full range of specialists required to meet the needs of patients in the service including doctors and nurses, occupational therapists, psychologists, social worker, speech and language therapist, physiotherapist, therapy assistants and support workers.

Psychologists supported patients in 1-1 sessions to help manage difficult emotions, improve interpersonal relationships, and cope with distress. The physiotherapist delivered both 1-1 and group sessions to increase mobility and strength. Occupational therapy staff helped patients to improve their community and daily living skills.

Staff ensured that patients had good access to physical healthcare, including access to specialists when needed. The service employed a lead physical health nurse and a GP visited weekly. The service also had a contract for monthly podiatrist visits.

Staff assessed and met patients’ needs for food and drink and for specialist nutrition and hydration, if required. We saw examples of this in care records.

The service used recognised tools to assess patients’ needs including the UK Functional Independence Measure (FIMFAM), Waterlow scales for assessing the risk of pressure sores, and the Malnutrition Universal Scoring Tool (MUST).

Staff worked effectively across teams and services to support people, sharing assessments to ensure continuity of care when individuals moved between services.

The service had regular multidisciplinary meetings and structured handovers which enabled teams to maintain clear communication, promptly identify changes, and ensure staff were aware of individual risks or issues on each shift.

Staff had effective working relationships with teams outside the organisation including the local authority, commissioners and G.Ps.

The service supported people to manage their health and wellbeing so they could maximise their independence, choice and control, live healthier lives and where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support.

Staff regularly assessed and monitored patients’ physical health. Staff completed the National Early Warning Score 2 (NEWS2) twice per day to enable early recognition of any deterioration in physical health.

Staff recorded any physical health concerns in patient care records and ensured that patients had access to specialist healthcare as required. This included physiotherapy and speech and language therapy. Staff completed dysphagia screening for all patients and provided modified food and fluids including thickened drinks, pureed or easy to swallow foods where required.

A consultant specialising in Huntington’s disease visited the hospital and provided expert input into the care of patients living with the condition.

Ward activities helped promote a healthy lifestyle for patients, for example exercise groups, sports activities and cooking healthy meals.

The provider monitored all people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. They ensured that outcomes were positive and consistent, and that they fully met both clinical expectations and the expectations of people themselves.

The service used recognised tools to assess patients’ needs including the UK Functional Independence Measure (FIMFAM), Waterlow scales for assessing the risk of pressure sores, and the Malnutrition Universal Scoring Tool (MUST).

Staff worked with patients to identify long and short-term goals and objectives to work towards.

The service had achieved some positive outcomes for patients with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND). One patient was admitted wheelchair dependent and struggled to complete basic daily living skills such as eating and personal care. Through a structured programme of physiotherapy and occupational therapy the patient was able to walk using a walking frame, completed her own personal care and took part in leisure activities. The patient described the progress she had made as ‘life changing’.

Another patient was admitted with a catheter and wheelchair dependent. Following a rehabilitation programme the patient was able to walk far enough and use the bathroom independently enough to return home.

The service told people about their rights around consent and respected these when they delivered person-centred care and treatment.

Staff completed capacity assessments for all patients who required them and recorded these in care records. Where patients had impaired mental capacity, staff assessed and recorded capacity to consent appropriately on a decision-specific basis regarding significant decisions. Staff involved patients’ families in best interest decision-making where appropriate and family involvement in care planning and discharge planning was recorded in care records.

Patients receiving end of life care had advanced decisions recorded in care records.