Elstow Lodge

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

People’s needs were assessed when they started using the service and reassessed when needed. Staff worked well with other services and professionals to help ensure people had good outcomes in relation to their health. Staff were trained in the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and supported people in line with this legislation.

This service scored 50 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People’s needs were assessed when they started living at the service and reassessed if their needs changed. One person said, ‘‘Things keep getting better and staff know how to help me.’’ A relative explained, ‘‘Unfortunately there have been a few changes in relation to how [family member] needs to be supported but staff have updated the care plans and changed what they do to make sure they are cared for well.’’ Staff were involved in assessing people’s needs and were informed of any changes in daily handovers and meetings. The manager and deputy manager had effective processes in place to help ensure people’s support needs were assessed on a regular basis. The manager had worked with the staff team to effectively up date people’s care plans and risk assessments as their needs changed.

People were supported in line with current best practice such as RSRCRC. One person said, ‘‘Since [last assessment] things have gone really well for me. [Staff] have helped me do my own thing and it is all going well.’’ Other evidence showed people were having good outcomes as a result of staff supporting them in line with this practice. For example, one person was very happy showing us photos of what they had been doing with staff. Staff had been supported to be and were knowledgeable about RSRCRC and other best practices when supporting people. They spoke passionately about how well this had been implemented at the service and the impact this had to people. For example, one person was now able to communicate in a different way and this meant a lot to the person. The management team kept up to date with best practice and shared this with the staff team so people could be supported in the best way possible. The management team were proud of how people had been supported to access the local community more and to achieve goals in line with their preferences and noted the impact this had on people’s wellbeing.

People and relatives told us how staff supported them / their family member to health appointments if these were needed. One relative said, ‘‘[Family member] has had a lot of changes in to their health at the moment and staff take them to appointments. I know staff take on board what [professionals] say and work with them to make sure [family member] has the right care. They update the care plans.’’ One person had been supported to understand a health condition as staff had worked with health professionals to understand how best to involve the person with this. Staff and the management team told us how they communicated and worked with other services. They updated people’s care plans and risk assessments in line with professionals recommendations. We were shown evidence of positive health related outcomes for people as a result of this. For example, one person had been supported to become healthier whilst still making their own choices and being in control of the area of their life the professionals supported them with.

People were supported to live healthily. For example, staff supported people to exercise regularly and offered them choices of a wide variety of food and drink. One person said, ‘‘[Staff] help us cook all the food and its all good.’’ Another person had been supported to try a wider variety of foods as a result of staff supporting them to understand what healthy choices were. This person was visibly happy to choose their lunch with support from staff. Staff supported people to access the community and go for regular exercise to help promote their health and emotional wellbeing. Staff were knowledgeable about how to support healthy choices whilst also enabling people to make their own decisions. The management and staff team put care plans in place to share with health professionals for when people needed to visit other services. These supported positive health outcomes for people.

People were supported to achieve outcomes in relation to their health and wellbeing. One relative told us, ‘‘When [family member] became ill staff looked after them so well and they got better in no time at all. It has always been important to us that [family member] is supported to [achieve health outcome] and staff have helped with this. They are so much happier as a result.’’ Another person had been supported to exercise regularly to help them with their health. This person told us, ‘‘Walking with staff is so nice.’’ Staff and the management team were passionate about supporting people to be healthy and have good outcomes in relation to this. Staff told us how supporting people to be healthy had a positive impact on their wellbeing and showed us evidence of how this had benefitted people. The management team ensured people’s care plans and risk assessments were updated as people’s health related support needs changed.

People and relatives told us they/ their family member were asked for consent before staff supported them. One relative said, ‘‘[Staff] are always polite. They know how to support [family member] but always run things past them. If they are going to do anything new with them they ring us and we have a discussion.’’ We observed staff asking people for consent to support them throughout the day. Staff were trained and knowledgeable in the MCA. They understood the importance of this and the impact it had when they supported people. A staff member explained how sometimes a person would make choices which could be seen as unwise by others. However, staff supported their decisions and the result was the person felt in control of their own choices. The management team ensured assessments were completed if people lacked capacity to make decisions. Decisions were made in partnership with people, their relatives and professionals to make sure they were in people’s best interests.