Lindisfarne Newton Aycliffe

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 the last inspection 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 71 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The registered manager made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them. They ensured the assessments were completed in a timely manner and were accurate. These were used as the basis for the care records. The care records detailed people’s needs and important information about their lives. Staff actively used them to understand people’s ongoing needs. For example, they knew the triggers for the distress one person experienced and used information about their lives to support them reduce their anxiety.

The staff team 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 ensured people’s health needs were monitored and they received a nutritious diet, which when needed followed dietitian’s guidance. The catering staff understood people’s needs and how to promote a healthy diet. People were complimentary about the food. A relative said, “[Person’s name] likes the food, it’s well presented, they are a fussy eater but since moving here they a have been gaining weight.”

Staff 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 worked closely with other agencies and professionals such as GPs and community nursing services. A professional said, “The staff are really good and very knowledgeable about people’s needs. They quickly spot any changes in people’s health. They follow any guidance we give and always come back to us if they have a query.”

Staff supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to maximise their independence, choice and control. Staff assisted people to live healthier lives and, where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support. Staff liaised with external health and social care professionals to ensure people received consistent care and support. Relatives and professionals reported individuals had experienced positive outcomes because the service.

Staff 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. We observed staff followed best practice around providing dementia care. These strategies supported people to be more social and maintain their social facades. A person said, “They get at 5 out of 5 from me as they are so kind and make sure I’m alright. I love it here.”

Staff told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. Staff understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act and associated codes of practice. They completed capacity assessments and ‘best interests’ decisions. At times staff were not considering whether a capacity assessment and ‘best interest’ decision was needed albeit the evidence suggested this would be the case. They also needed to complete decision specific assessments in a range of areas and provide more detail around how they assessed whether a person lacked capacity to make a decision. The registered manager immediately took action to ensure the documents were improved. People made their own choices and decisions on a day-to-day basis about what they did, what they ate and how they filled their time.