The Summers

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.

The provider made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them. People and their relatives were actively involved in assessments and reviews of their care and support needs. People were listened to and their choices and preferences were taken into account when their care and support needs were assessed. Relatives told us, “I am amazed at how much they have understood [person’s] needs,” and “[Person’s] healthcare needs are taken into consideration when food is on offer.” Staff understood people’s individual needs and how these should be met. There were processes in place to keep them up to date when people’s needs changed, including handover meetings, “Every day we have a handover 8 to 8.30. They will tell us about any changes [in people's care needs], and anything else we need to know.” A healthcare professional told us, ‘I witnessed a meal time where residents were being attended to and individual dietary needs were taken into consideration.’

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. Staff used nationally recognised tools appropriately to assess and monitor people’s needs, including Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) to assess the person’s individual's risk of malnutrition. We saw how a person’s MUST score, combined with their current weight was input on the provider’s electronic record system. This information was then used to ensure the person’s pressure relieving mattress was set up to ensure it was providing the correct amount of pressure relief to protect their skin.

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 by staff that worked well together and with other services. This helped to ensure a joined up, consistent approach to delivering safe and effective care to people in line with their individual needs. People told us, “I saw the dentist the other week. If I have a hospital appointment a carer goes with me,” and “Staff are good at judging if [person] is not well and respond quickly. They are good at monitoring [person’s] health and will call a GP when needed.” The manager told us there was a good relationship with the local GP practice, and the GP told us that nursing staff sent a list of people’s medical needs in advance of their weekly visit to The Summers, which identified particular needs and their latest clinical observations.

The provider supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to maximise their independence, choice and control. People were supported to stay healthy and well in line with their needs and wishes and where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support. They were supported to eat a nutritious balanced diet, and a major focus of activities within the home was on improving people’s mobility and mental stimulation.

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 told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. Staff were aware of the importance of giving people time to make their own decisions where possible. We observed how they ensured they had people’s consent prior to any support given. Relatives told us, “Staff always ask [person’s] before giving any care or before taking any action.” Management was aware of the importance of making decisions in people’s best interests and not imposing unnecessary restrictions on people. However, on the day of this assessment, documentation to evidence the decision-making process for some restrictions which were already in place, including sensor mats and bedrails, was missing. Following this assessment, the manager sent us evidence of completed documentation in relation to this. We saw these were person-centred, decision specific and signed by the person or their representative, in accordance with people’s individual needs and preferences. Engagement with relatives who were part of the decision-making process was recorded. The process to assess a person’s capacity with regards to decision making was outlined. This included the assessor returning at different times of the day to help determine the person’s ability to understand, remember, use and communicate the information relevant to the decision.