8 Acres

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.

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.

At our last inspection we found people’s assessed needs and risks recorded in their care records, were not found to be consistently recognised and acted on by staff in the standards of care provided. At this inspection, improvements had been made.

The provider made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them.

Care plans contained personalised information and detailed people’s health needs. Care plans were reviewed monthly or sooner as required so they remained up to date. Relatives told us they were kept informed of any changes. A relative said, “I am unable to go to care plan and medical meetings as I live so far away. Staff will keep in touch with me and email me the reports.”

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.

For example, 1 person had been under-weight. The provider referred them to the dietitian who developed a dietary plan to support them to gain weight in a healthy and sustainable way. They were recently discharged from the dietitian and staff continued to follow the meal plan to help sustain their weight. A relative said, “[Person] requires a full fat diet as they burn fat quickly and has special bottles of drink to put weight on.”

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 supported people to see professionals when required and facilitated access to referrals when needed. One person’s behaviour had recently changed, and they were expressing increased distress. A team leader told us, “[Person] has been referred to everyone, we phoned the crisis line immediately and the Specialist Support Team, psychologist, psychiatrist and OT (Occupational Therapist) are all involved now.”

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 were supported with activities to maintain good physical health. A staff member said, “We encourage lots of active activities, such as swimming and the gym. It was not there before but we are trying to get more in touch with professional teams. They have been regularly getting in touch to make sure people’s health and wellbeing is okay, and that’s when the gym came up to get them fit and healthy.” A relative said, “Staff work with [person] on a healthy snack box to help with their weight.” Another said, “[Person] used to be very introvert but now they are beginning to open up and I think this is due to the staff who have been interactive with them.”

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.

For example, one person had a complex plan in place to manage their health condition. The staff worked closely with health professionals and relatives to fine tune this plan to enable the person to continue to do the things that were important to them. This close working with professionals and relatives meant the person was less likely to require hospital admission and meant they lived a more fulfilling life.

At our last inspection we found people’s abilities to consent to care and treatment were not being consistently assessed, reviewed or monitored and there was a breach of the regulations in relation to consent to care and treatment. At this inspection improvements had been made.

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

We checked whether the service was working within the principles of the Mental capacity act (MCA), whether appropriate legal authorisations were in place when needed to deprive a person of their liberty, and whether any conditions relating to those authorisations were being met. We found the service was working within the principles of the MCA and if needed, appropriate legal authorisations were in place to deprive a person of their liberty; CQC had been made aware of these via statutory notifications.