Silver Birch Care 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 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.

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’s care plans were person centred, detailed how the person liked to be supported and the things that mattered to them.

Care plans were reviewed regularly and most people told us they felt they and their loved ones were involved in reviews on a regular basis.

When people required specialised support with nutrition and hydration such as specialised diets, this was detailed in their support plan and shared with the kitchen. Diet and fluid records were monitored, reviewed and shared with other professionals such as dieticians. Records included a clear explanation of why they were required.

People and relatives described how staff supported them to maintain their health and wellbeing, including timely referrals to health professionals and responding to changes in 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.

People’s individual care and support needs were delivered by well trained staff.
We saw evidence in care plans and in handover records that people’s specific nutrition and hydration needs were met in line with current guidance.

Staff had received accredited training including additional training in other health conditions. This included Diabetes and Parkinsons, to ensure they could provide people with individualised care and support in line with evidence-based good practice.

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’s care plans contained information about their health and care needs. This meant information was available and ready to share across the service, so people received consistent care. We received positive feedback from a number of health care providers including district nurses and GP who recently visited the home. They told us about how well staff and management team engaged with them to ensure people living at the service received the support they needed.

The registered manager told us they were in the process of upgrading their care system which would enable other health care professionals to exchange information via a service user portal.

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.

Staff we spoke with were knowledgeable about people’s needs and care. For example, there were meal and food choices available to match people’s needs and their requirements. Care plans contained guidance and information on people’s health care needs. People told us staff supported them to appointments such as hospital, dentist and opticians when required. The management team had a close link with the local GP practice who visited the home weekly and staff were able to contact them directly for any immediate concerns.

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.

The provider monitored people’s health, wellbeing and outcomes. There was an electronic care planning system in place and staff were able to see changes to people’s health and support needs when providing care. These were updated when people’s needs changed. When people identified a specific goal, wish or need, staff supported them to meet this need.

Care plans were reviewed regularly. People and their relatives told us the manager often checked they were happy with the support given. We saw evidence of feedback from other health care professionals which told us the service worked well with them to ensure the support people received was of a good standard.

The management team and staff had regular handover meetings to discuss people’s needs, illnesses, falls, hospital admissions, accidents or incidents. The manager also shared a monthly overview of the service with the provider, this included the use of a tool to assess people’s care needs regularly. This helped the management team decide how many staff were needed to provide the care people needed.

The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when

delivering person-centred care and treatment.

People consented to their care and treatment. Staff assessed people’s mental capacity to make different decisions. Information was presented in a format to support people to make informed choices. When people lacked the mental capacity to make decisions, the provider met with their representatives to help make decisions in people’s best interests. People confirmed they were given choices and staff asked for their consent. We observed this on multiple occasions during our assessment and saw staff respecting people’s decisions.