Wandsworth Common 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. This is the first assessment for this newly re-registered service.

This key question has been rated Good. This meant people’s outcomes were consistently good, and people’s feedback confirmed this.

This service scored 79 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

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

People, and others involved in their care, had been actively involved in assessments of their needs conducted by managers prior to any prospective new service users admission. Assessments considered each person’s health, care, wellbeing, and communication needs, to enable them to receive care or treatment that has the best possible outcomes.

Peoples choices and preferences had been used to plan their individualised packages of care and support. Assessments were routinely reviewed and up dated accordingly to reflect any changing needs. Staff understood people’s individual needs and how these should be met.

The service 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 received personal care and support from staff according to their individually assessed needs and wishes. A relative told us, “They [staff] all know my [family member] personally and how to meet their needs.” An external care professional added, “The residents’ needs are met, medically and socially.”

Staff worked well together to deliver and meet people’s needs and wishes in line with legislation and current evidence-based good practice and standards. Staff told us they followed guidance in care plans when supporting people. This included providing the appropriate level of support in line with guidance in relation to individual needs, including nutrition, moving, and handling.

Care plans were comprehensive and detailed covering residents individual needs and were reviewed and updated regularly. Staff were supported through training and supervision to deliver care and support people in line with legislation, good practice and standards. Managers also conducted regular monitoring checks on staff’s working practices.

The service 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 managers and staff who worked well-together and with other external health and social care professionals and bodies. An external care professional told us, “The managers and staff make appropriate referrals to our team and I think this works well both for them and us in preventing and safely managing our clients health care needs.”Another added, “This is such a positive place. I enjoy coming here and the staff are always happy to help support me with my clients health care needs.” Staff reported positive working relationships with external health and social care professionals and bodies. A member of staff told us, “We feel really supported by all the external health care professionals who we work closely with who are always quick to respond to our queries and requests for advice.” Systems were in place to make sure information was shared in a timely manner by everyone involved in people’s care. This all helped to ensure a joined up, consistent approach to delivering safe and effective care to people in line with their individually assessed needs and preferences.

The service supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to maximise their independence, choice and control. The service supported people to live healthier lives and where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support.

People were supported by staff to stay healthy and well in line with their assessed needs and wishes. People told us staff supported them to stay in regular contact with relevant external health care professionals. Staff knew when people were unwell or in pain, discomfort or showing signs of an infection and supported people to access health care services for their health care needs. For example, staff ensured people routinely attended scheduled health care appointments and had regular screening and check-ups with a range of community-based health care professionals including, GP’s, district nurses and opticians. A relative told us, “The staff are particularly good at keeping me fully updated on what’s going on with my [family members] health, especially when it deteriorates. Similarly, the service is good at arranging my [family members] dental care and have been excellent supporting him to attend all his health care appointments as and when required.”An external care professional added, “The care home looks after people with some high and complex health care needs which the staff meet seamlessly. The managers and staff are responsive to our requests and they are pro-active in supporting our patients in maximising their health and wellbeing.”

Information about people’s healthcare needs was assessed and reviewed at regular intervals. This meant staff had up to date information about people’s needs to help them support people to live healthier lives.

The service monitored all people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. They ensured that outcomes were positive and consistent, and that they fully met both clinical expectations and the expectations of people themselves.

People experienced positive outcomes from the care and support provided by staff. People’s care and support was regularly reviewed to ensure this was meeting their needs and expected outcomes. Staff understood how to support people to help them achieve positive outcomes in relation to their care and support needs. They monitored the care and support provided to people and knew what action to take if any improvements to this were required.

Systems were in place to monitor the care and support provided to people to ensure this remained effective. For example, the provider had introduced Artificial Intelligence driven video monitoring technology to help them improve how they monitored people assessed as being at high risk of falls and injuries. The provider showed us how they had successfully used this technology to significantly reduce the number of unwitnessed falls and injuries people experience. This technology allowed managers and staff to better monitor and analyse incidents involving people when they were alone in their room, learn lessons and take appropriate action to reduce the likelihood of similar incidents reoccurring. A manager gave us a good example of how this technology had helped them identify a particular piece of furniture in a person’s bedroom as being a trip hazard which they were able to safely reposition and mitigate the risk of this person falling.

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

People were supported to understand the care and support staff wished to provide them. This enabled people to consent to this if they wished. People could refuse to receive care and support. People’s care plans made it clear what decisions people could make for themselves. For example, we saw best interest meetings had been held with all the relevant professionals for people at high risk of falls who did not have mental capacity. This enabled body heat monitoring technology to be used in these people’s bedrooms[. Staff understood people’s capacity to make decisions about the care and support they received. Managers and staff confirmed they had received Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS) training. A external care professional told us, “Managers and staff are very well informed regarding DOLS. We have extensive discussions about guidelines and client best interest meetings. It is fantastic they are able to be actively involved in these discussions and have the expertise to engage in this process.” The service was clearly working within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA).