Bales Court

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.

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.

We observed assessments of people’s needs had been completed prior to them moving into the service. This was done to ensure that the person’s needs could be met, and to ensure that consideration had been taken regarding the mixture of people living together to minimise hostility or conflict.

Care plans had been reviewed and updated where necessary. A staff member told us, “We have to read and sign. [Person’s] care plan had recently changed, and I read them and then signed to say that I had read them.”

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 followed advice and guidance from health care professionals to maintain people’s safety and health. For example, we observed thickener being used in a person’s drink as had been prescribed by the Speech and Language Therapy team (SALT).

Some people were living far away from their relatives and friends. Staff encouraged people to maintain relationships with loved ones and supported them in facilitating this. For example, one person was driven and supported by two staff members to visit their relative who lived one and a half hours away on a monthly basis. Staff had also supported another person to re-establish a relationship with their relative by facilitating visits.

The provider worked well across teams and services to support people. Staff worked well together to ensure the needs of the people they support were met.

Daily shift planner logs were used for staff to record how people had been during their shift, as well as recording environmental checks that had been completed, such as fridge and freezer temperatures.

There appeared to be a good rapport between the team members who communicated well with each other. The manager told us, “The handovers that we’ve seen are good between night and day staff. Noone has raised any concerns in supervisions.”

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.

People were supported to attend regular health care appointments. This included visits to the dentist, chiropodist and optician. Records of the appointments were recorded in people’s care plans as well as any resulting advice or guidance given. People were also supported to maintain their wellbeing, such as by trips to their hair salon.

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.

Staff supported people to improve their day-to-day life and achieve positive outcomes. Two people’s mobility had decreased in recent months. Staff had referred them to the occupational therapist to review if any equipment could improve their ability to move around their home and the community.

Another person had been supported to regain their confidence in accessing the community again. A relative told us, “[Person] liked to go to Dorking for visits to cafes but stopped this after her hospital admission which left her reluctant to go out. The staff have supported her to overcome this and she now goes out with staff in a special powered chair.”

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

Staff were aware of the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, which helped ensure they respected people’s rights. The manager told us, “Organisationally there’s been a massive push and most staff are up to date in this training.”

People’s care records contained information of who was responsible for making financial decisions about their care. This included details of any appointees and power of attorneys in place.