Blenheim House 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 had a pre-admission assessment completed by a senior member of staff. This helped to make sure the service understood and could meet people’s needs.

The provider planned and delivered people’s care and treatment with them, including what was important and mattered to them. The provider used nationally recognised tools to assess needs such as nutrition and risk of pressure damage. People’s needs in relation to nutrition were identified and preferences were recorded. We observed food was well presented and mealtimes were relaxed. The home manager told us they had regular updates from the provider on changes to national guidance and legislation. The provider held regular management events where changes were shared so managers could discuss and learn about new ways of working.

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 told us there was good team work at the service and they felt they supported each other well. Before every shift started there was a handover to update staff on people’s needs. People were supported to attend healthcare appointments. Records showed people were seen and reviewed by healthcare professionals at the service. Staff told us they had developed good working relationships with visiting healthcare professionals. One staff member said, “We have a good relationship with [professionals]; they come every week. We send a list to them for people we want them to review and provide any clinical details they require.”

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. Some people had urinary catheters in place. Care plans provided clear guidance for staff on how to care for the catheter, how to reduce the risks of infection and the signs and symptoms to be aware of. Some people had percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tubes in place. Care plans provided clear guidance for staff on how to care for and maintain the tubes.

The provider routinely monitored people’s care and treatment to improve it. Monitoring had taken place for various areas of care. For example, people who needed their food and drink monitoring had charts in place to record intake. All the food and fluid charts we looked at showed people received enough to eat and drink. The service used an electronic system which raised an alert if people’s fluid intake was low. This then alerted staff to act.
 

The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. Staff had training on the importance of consent and understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). Where people lacked capacity, assessments had been completed and processes had been followed. Feedback from people and relatives was that staff asked their consent before undertaking any care activity.