Barn Park Residential 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 71 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

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

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.

Community nurses gave positive feedback about the care of people living at the home. While visitors said they were reassured by staff contacting health professionals to support their relative’s health needs. One commented their relative had put on weight and was much healthier and happier. She said the care from staff was “amazing.”

Staff noticed changes in people’s health and well-being and sought professional health advice. This included GPs, the district nurse team, and the older people’s mental health team. During the inspection, a chiropodist visited and treated people’s feet. One person said to the chiropodist, “Oh lady, that feels lovely.”

Staff were clear on their responsibility to record and report people’s health changes to a more senior member of staff or to the new manager to contact appropriate health professionals. We saw improvements in how advice was recorded and shared with the staff team. There were better reviews of risk assessments to support a more effective way of monitoring people’s health.

However, for one person staying on the reablement side of the home, their records did not show how much they had drunk each day despite their known risk of dehydration. The provider said this would be addressed. The person told us they had a sign to remind them to drink and staff also prompted them.

We did not look at Monitoring and improving outcomes during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

The provider did not always protect people’s rights around consent by not ensuring relatives had the legal status to make decisions.

Records did not show if people were asked about their legal status to make decisions on their relative’s behalf, for example being asked to bring in a copy of their Enduring Power of Attorney for finances and/or health and welfare. Therefore, people’s legal rights were not always protected. However, we saw staff involved people in decision making and listened to their opinions, although some staff were more skilled than others in their approach. Staff were busy but they took time to engage with people, for example to ask their opinion or check they were comfortable or answer their questions.

Where necessary, a mental capacity assessment had been completed and a Deprivation of Liberties Safeguards (DoLS) application appropriately made. Staff explained how they asked for people’s consent for day to day support and provided examples. The new manager understood the purpose of DoLS, and why an application might be submitted. DoLS applications had been made for some individuals where appropriate. Following discussion with the provider, an additional application was made for the use of bed rails for one person. However, some staff did not always show an understanding of the importance of protecting people’s legal rights. For example, one said, “We do not really get involved in DoLS – I think it is in the care plans, but I could not tell you offhand who has one.”