The Apuldram 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

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. The registered manager told us robustly assessing a person’s needs and wishes before starting to support the person and was key in providing the right support.

We saw examples of assessments carried out which were then developed into support plans. This has been an improving and evolving process over recent years.
An external professional told us of a recent assessment, “The manager and her team demonstrated a clear commitment to supporting [name of person] through a carefully planned and nurturing transition. From the outset, they showed a strong willingness to understand how the person’s current home operated and to learn how best to support their adaptation to their new placement.”
 

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.

Staff were trained and understood how to implement training which both met legislation and considered how people liked their support.
One person gave an example of how a staff member supported them so they could manage their emotions. The staff member demonstrated a clear understanding of value based recognised approaches to supporting a person to manage difficult emotions.
 

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.

The registered manager gave examples of working well in teams both within the service, the wider organisation, family members and external professionals. When the staff and leaders had identified a need the person may have, that was outside of what they were delivering in the care package, they escalated this to the relevant agencies.

An external social care professionals remarked, “Communication is strong.” However, we did have some feedback from some families who told us they would like more detailed communication.
The provider demonstrated they were working to improve communication with individual families.
 

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.

Some people were supported with meal planning and preparation. Staff consistently described supporting independence and empowering people to live healthier lives by listening to their needs, adapting care and ensuring they were responsive to people’s feedback. People confirmed this and one person added “I do cooking, we share it between us and staff help.” We observed people preparing healthy foods for their evening meal.

Staff were also aware where people were not making healthy choices which impacted their medical conditions and sought involvement from health professionals to consider best ways to support people.
 

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.

People’s support records confirmed regular internal reviews were completed and the provider sought wider reviews with health professionals and or the local authority.

Staff monitored people on a day-to-day basis. Where needed, referrals to healthcare professionals were made. People and their family members gave mixed feedback on how easy it was to communicate with managers and staff and if any changes were made, with most feedback being positive. The registered manager was actively working to further improve communication expectations and improve channels of communication. People told us they were fully involved in decisions.
 

The provider did not always tell people about their rights around consent and did not always respect their rights when delivering care and treatment.
Some people had signed legacy tenancy agreements with the provider where the person’s capacity to understand the practical and legal implications of a tenancy may have been subject to doubt. We raised this with the provider during the assessment and were assured by the provider’s response in arranging mental capacity assessments for people where required.

In other areas people’s capacity to consent was supported and people told us they had choice in their lives and were supported to make bigger decisions, explaining staff helped them understand the information they needed to make a choice. One person said, “They let me do my own choices.” Staff consistently demonstrated their awareness of people's right to make choices including when they may be deemed unwise. Staff had received training for the Mental Capacity Act and understood their responsibilities under this legislation.