HF Trust Hythe

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. The provider was previously in breach of the legal regulation in relation to need for consent. Improvements were found at this assessment and the provider was no longer in breach of this regulation.

At this assessment the rating has changed to good. This meant people’s outcomes were consistently good, and people’s feedback confirmed this.

People’s needs were assessed with them and others involved in the person’s life prior to moving into a service. Staff worked alongside healthcare professionals to ensure people remain as healthy as possible. People’s communication needs were supported and recorded. Some people’s health care records were incomplete, and work was still ongoing to ensure everyone’s care records were outcome focused. People were supported to attend regular appointments with their healthcare professionals. People’s capacity to consent to care and treatment had been recorded, and people were given choice and control over their lives.

This service scored 67 (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 with them and a range of other people including relatives, staff and health professionals before they moved into a service. Assessments included all aspects of people’s physical, social and emotional well-being.

There was guidance for staff about how to support people who had anxieties. This included how to recognise the early warning signs that people were getting distressed and what actions staff should take to maintain their well-being and safety. There was detailed guidance about specific health care needs such as how to recognise and support people who had epilepsy or too much or too little sugar in their body due to diabetes.

Staff gave examples of how they had worked with people and professionals to develop communication aids such as communication passports. These were used to further aid communication between people and others. The communication passports included tools to guide staff about how people with limited or no verbal communication presented when they were happy, sad or in pain. 

People were supported to plan, prepare and cook their meals which included a larger meal, once a week, for others living in the house. People had access to their own snacks and drinks which could be accessed at any time.

There was detailed guidance and information about people who had specific nutritional needs. This included guidance from a speech and language therapist about the consistency of people’s food and how they needed to be supported to eat.

People told us they were supported to see a doctor when required. Records showed and staff confirmed they worked closely with a range of external health care professionals such as, speech and language therapists, doctors and district nurses.

Documents had been developed to ensure a smooth transition between health services as required. This ensured people’s needs including health and communication continued to be met.

People’s care records were held using an electronic system, so the service was able to share information if people moved between services.

One person’s care record showed shortfalls in recording the blood sugar levels for diabetes. Other care records contained detailed information to guide staff how to support people with any health conditions and the importance of people eating a healthy diet.

People were supported to monitor their health on a regular basis with the relevant health professionals. Staff made a record of any healthcare appointments and their outcomes. People were supported to attend regular ‘well-man’ and ‘well-woman’ checks with their doctor. Staff regularly discussed people’s health with them at their keyworker meetings. Staff gave an example of how they had supported a person to seek advice with the local pharmacist. Relatives told us they felt their loved one was supported well with the monitoring of their health.

Person-centred planning had begun to be used to improve people’s outcomes, but this was not consistent across the whole service. The provider had identified that not everyone had been supported to identify their dreams, wishes or goals and what support and actions were required to help make them possible.

However, some people had been supported to monitor and improve goals important to them. A member of staff told us how they had supported a person to create a healthy eating plan when they had chosen to lose weight. Other staff gave examples of how they had worked alongside external healthcare professional to ensure any actions were recorded within people’s records and completed. People had been supported to learn and develop skills to increase their independent living skills such as, washing, cooking, cleaning and budgeting.

People’s mental capacity had been assessed in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). Assessments included specific decisions about whether people could understand, retain and weigh up the information and communicate their decision. Where people had been assessed as lacking the capacity to make a specific decision, best interest meetings had been held with interested parties.

Staff had been trained and followed the principles of the MCA. They respected people’s choice to make decisions whilst giving them relevant information and encouragement so they could make a fully informed decision. We observed that staff gained people’s consent before offering any support or assistance.