Northfield 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 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 service made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing, and communication needs with them. Staff understood people’s individual needs and made sure assessments were up to date and recorded. Staff told us people’s views were sought by using their preferred communication methods across various platforms including, during daily support and in meetings with their keyworker, the registered manager, and the whole household. We saw evidence of people’s views being recorded and included in care plans.

The service 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 monitored people’s weight and used nationally recognised tools appropriately to assess and monitor people’s needs. For example, the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) was used to identify people at risk of malnutrition. Staff ensured people had enough to eat and drink and where there was a concern in this area, staff had completed a referral to the relevant health professional requesting additional support.

The service worked well across teams and services to support people. The staff team worked together with a variety of health and social care professionals to ensure care and support was received when required. The provider had processes in place to ensure care and support was coordinated in the best interests of people using the service which included collaboration with professionals and information sharing. A staff member told us, “When complex clinical care is required, we receive training and instructions from qualified healthcare professionals.” The registered manager told us, people would only need to tell their story once as they would share their assessment of needs if a person was to move between different services. The service was supporting people in line with the ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ principles.

The service supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to maximise their independence, choice, and control. The service supported people to live healthier lives and where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support. Care records captured the support people required with their health needs and what action staff should take when there was any deterioration to an individual’s health. A staff member told us, “We regularly collaborate with GPs, district nurses, therapists etc. For example, working with a physiotherapist helps some people improve their mobility through tailored exercises, enhancing their independence.”

The service routinely monitored people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. They ensured that outcomes were positive and consistent, and that they mostly met both clinical expectations and the expectations of people themselves. Staff worked collaboratively to plan and deliver people’s care, reduce risks, and achieve best outcomes for people.A relative told us, “Last year there was a period where they got extra carers in for my relative for a month to manage a health condition. They prevented a hospital stay due to how proactive the registered manager was in gaining the support needed and managing the situation in a timely manner along with how dedicated the staff were.”

The service had a proactive and positive culture of safety, based on openness and honesty. They listened to concerns about safety and investigated and reported safety events. Lessons were learnt to continually identify and embed good practice. People and their relatives told us they felt the service listened to them and responded to any concerns they had. Staff knew what incidents to report and how to report them. The service investigated incidents thoroughly and shared outcomes with people, relatives and professionals. We saw evidence of change as a result of incidents which had occurred. The registered manager told us they received safety alerts from the government, local authority and CQC which informed them of upcoming risks along with themes and trends to ensure the provider could take appropriate action to mitigate these risks.