St George's Nursing Home

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

Clinical review meetings were held daily with nursing staff and a member of the management team. These meetings were an opportunity to discuss any changes to people’s individual needs and referrals were made by the management team if needed. Regular weekly meetings were held with an Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP) from the local GP surgery; this was an opportunity to discuss any changes to people’s individual 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.

Care plans were person centred and contained assessments of people’s individual nutrition and hydration needs. For example, assessments were undertaken of people’s individual needs such as the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) was used to assess people’s likelihood of malnutrition. Referrals were made by the management of the service to professionals when required, this included speech and language therapists and dietitians.

People were observed to have choice such as what hot or cold drink they preferred, and we observed within the dining areas people had access to various drinks. However, we raised with the management of the service where we were not always assured people were being adequately supported with drinks for example within their own rooms.

Care plans contained information such as if the person had any nutritional and hydration needs. Where referrals were made this was confirmed within the person’s care plan. Risk assessments were also in place if needed.

The chef was passionate about providing good quality meals with the best produce available. Fresh bread and meals were made daily by the chef and there were various meal options available to people including sampling vegetables grown by people within the service. During the hot weather the service developed different ways to keep people hydrated including providing hydrating fruits and drinks. People told us, “The food is good” and “The food is nice.” The service had been awarded recognition by the local health care teams for supporting people with hydration during the hot weather and they were also exploring working with a university on providing nutritional food within care homes.

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.

People were supported with referrals and visits when needed from visiting health professionals. This included weekly visits from an advanced nurse practitioner, and physio therapists and occupational therapists. Some people raised with us during the inspection where they wished to have other referrals and appointments made. We shared this feedback with the registered manager so they could discuss this with them and explore any referrals that might need to be arranged.

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 to access health care such as a chiropodist, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists. An advanced nurse practitioner visited the home on a weekly basis.

However, some people raised mixed feedback about being able to access health care professionals. We shared this feedback with the registered manager who confirmed following our inspection actions they were taking.

Feedback from health care professionals was mixed as 1 professional felt improvements could be made to staff knowledge of people and the person’s care planning information. We shared this feedback with the registered manager so they could review this.

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 health was monitored such as people’s weight and skin integrity. Where people had specialist equipment such as an air mattress this was accurately set for them. Daily clinical meetings were held with nursing staff and the deputy manager who was also a nurse. The meetings supported the nursing team with any queries they had and any changes to people’s individual needs were shared as required. Staff spoke positivity of the support provided by the management of the service.

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

People had their wishes and choice respected by staff. Care staff gave examples of gaining consent from people and checking with people before they supported them. For example, 1 member of staff told us, “We give people choices such as what they’d like to eat or wear.” Another member of staff told us they asked the person if they’d like a shower. Although staff demonstrated a good understanding of giving people choice, we observed during the inspection 1 person who preferred not to wear a covering to protect their clothes during lunch although the member of staff continued to try to encourage them. We raised this feedback with the registered manager so they could review how staff support people.

People’s care plans were person centred and explored how people wanted their care and support provided. Care plans were reviewed by senior staff and through a resident of the day system.