Aspen Court Care Home

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• 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 good. 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.

People had their needs assessed prior to them using the service. This information was clear, and person centred, which supported staff to write care plans and risk assessments. Staff regularly reviewed these, and prompt action was taken when there had been a change in people’s needs. Relatives told us they felt involved in the planning of people’s care and were kept up to date with any changes. A relative told us, “They always ring either me or my daughters about everything and tell me what’s what.”

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 used nationally recognised tools to monitor for any changes in people’s presentation. We found people’s care plans contained important information about their health conditions, how staff could support these and the signs they should be vigilant for which may indicate a change in a person’s health. Relatives told us they were happy with the care their family members received. One relative told us, “They are very positive with [person]. They are very reassuring with her in a supportive way, I am more than happy.”

The provider worked well across teams and services to support people. We found the service had established links in place with healthcare providers who regularly visited people in the service to ensure their health and wellbeing needs were met. We found information and guidance provided by healthcare professionals was included in people’s care plans and known by staff. For example, when people required a modified diet, this information was cascaded throughout the service to ensure staff were aware. Staff confirmed they were kept up to date with important information which was regularly reviewed and accessible to them.

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 access healthcare in line with their individual needs and wishes. Relatives confirmed people’s health and wellbeing needs were being met. One relative told us “The optician comes in and [person] had an eye test and a chiropodist comes in.” And another relative told us of the steps staff had taken when their family member had lost weight, which included contacting the GP and offering additional support to the person at mealtimes.

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 continuously monitored people’s health conditions where appropriate. Evidence based tools were used to support this practice. Staff took part in daily management meetings where any changes in people's health and wellbeing were discussed, recorded and actioned. We also found people’s care plans provided staff with clear guidance on how people’s health conditions should be monitored. We reviewed people’s monitoring records and could see staff had taken appropriate action when a person’s health had declined.

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

People had mental capacity assessments and best interest decisions in place when relevant. These had involved people who had the legal authority to do so on behalf of the person where appropriate. We reviewed mental capacity assessments and best interest decisions in place and found they had been completed in line with best practice. Staff had received training on the Mental Capacity act 2005 and were knowledgeable on how to support people in line with the act. We also found the service had made appropriate Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) applications and monitored the progress of the applications. Relatives confirmed staff supported people with choices and followed people’s decisions, one relative told us, “They [staff] do respect [person’s] wishes, but at the same time they are positive and try to get her out of bed.” And another relative told us, “They [staff] do ask, for instance ‘do you want a drink?’ and [person] can answer back. Staff won’t just do it to them. They do ask them if they want to do something.”