Allonsfield House

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 62 (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 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. Relatives were satisfied the service monitored people’s health and well-being particularly in relation to eating and drinking. One relative said, “My [family member] needs to be reminded to eat and drink, they have dementia. Staff are brilliant at encouraging them to try this, have that, making it fun and sociable. They give them foods which they will eat, enriched foods too so they get the extra calories they need.” As part of the inspection, we observed lunch at the service. The lunch time meal was a positive experience for people. For those who chose to eat in the dining rooms there were enough staff to assist them. Where people who needed one to one support to eat and drink, they received this without interruptions or distractions, including people who ate their meals in their rooms. Staff provided this support in a respectful and dignified way. Staff monitored people’s health to ensure they had access to healthcare services when needed. The registered manager worked with a multidisciplinary healthcare team in supporting people’s health needs. This included GP involvement at the service and when needed other professionals such as dementia specialists, palliative care team and occupational therapists.

We did not look at Delivering evidence-based care and treatment during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at How staff, teams and services work together during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

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. Relatives were satisfied the service monitored people’s health and well-being particularly in relation to eating and drinking. One relative said, “My [family member] needs to be reminded to eat and drink, they have dementia. Staff are brilliant at encouraging them to try this, have that, making it fun and sociable. They give them foods which they will eat, enriched foods too so they get the extra calories they need.” As part of the inspection, we observed lunch at the service. The lunch time meal was a positive experience for people. For those who chose to eat in the dining rooms there were enough staff to assist them. Where people who needed one to one support to eat and drink, they received this without interruptions or distractions, including people who ate their meals in their rooms. Staff provided this support in a respectful and dignified way. Staff monitored people’s health to ensure they had access to healthcare services when needed. The registered manager worked with a multidisciplinary healthcare team in supporting people’s health needs. This included GP involvement at the service and when needed other professionals such as dementia specialists, palliative care team and occupational therapists.

We did not look at Monitoring and improving outcomes during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. Staff understood the requirement to seek permission before providing care to people and consent was sought. Staff supported people to make decisions for themselves and offered them choice during all interactions. Staff had received training in mental capacity and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) provides a legal framework for making particular decisions on behalf of people who may lack the mental capacity to do so for themselves. People can only be deprived of their liberty to receive care and treatment when this is in their best interests and legally authorised under the MCA. In care homes, and some hospitals, this is usually through MCA application procedures called the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). The registered manager was working within the principles of MCA and had applied for assessments and renewals of DoLS when required. Where people living at the service were unable to make their own decisions and there was no power of attorney in place, best interest meetings including specific decisions were in place, these were recorded and were kept under review.