Acacia Lodge

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 requires improvement. At this assessment the rating has changed to good.

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

The provider was previously in breach of the legal regulation relating to meeting nutritional and hydration needs. Improvements were found at this assessment and the provider was no longer in breach of this regulation. We saw evidence of effective weight monitoring arrangements, escalation processes and specialist involvement where concerns were identified, helping to ensure people's nutritional and hydration needs were monitored and responded to appropriately.

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.

We saw the registered manager assessed people's needs on admission and reviewed these when circumstances changed. Care plans reflected people's physical health, mobility, communication and support needs. Staff reviewed and updated them when professional assessments identified changes in people's needs.

Regarding care plans a care worker told us, "It’s updated every time because a person today can be eating and drinking well with full capacity, tomorrow can change."

Records showed staff worked with people, their families and other professionals to ensure assessments remained current and accurately reflected people's needs.

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.

We saw evidence that advice from specialists, including physiotherapists, pharmacists, GPs and others, informed the support people received and helped ensure care and treatment reflected current evidence-based practice.

For example, following physiotherapy assessments, staff incorporated professional recommendations into the support they provided to help manage changing mobility needs safely. Staff also sought advice from healthcare professionals when people's needs changed and used this to guide the care and treatment they delivered.

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.

We saw evidence of healthcare professionals being involved when people's needs changed and of recommendations being incorporated into care planning and delivery. Information was shared through care plans, evaluations, handovers and communication systems, helping to ensure people received coordinated support and continuity of care. Records showed people experienced joined-up care when moving between services and when accessing healthcare support.

We did not look at Supporting people to live healthier lives during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

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.

We reviewed records for a person whose weight was being monitored closely. The staff had identified concerns and the registered manager implemented weekly weight monitoring and sought input from a dietitian. Although the person did not always follow professional dietary advice, records showed staff continued to discuss options with them, monitor risks and review their nutritional needs. The provider sought further dietetic advice when concerns persisted and adapted support in response to professional recommendations. This demonstrated the provider's commitment to monitoring outcomes and responding appropriately when people's needs changed.

We saw the provider took similar approaches in relation to people's mobility, healthcare needs and care plan reviews. One relative told us, "I also feel that [person’s] ongoing pain issues weren't taken very seriously to begin with, but that seems to be improving." This demonstrated the provider responded to concerns and continued to review people's outcomes when areas requiring improvement were identified.

We did not look at Consent to care and treatment during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.