Whittingham 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

The service worked with people to provide care that was person centred and promoted people’s health wellbeing and independence. People were provided with nutrition and hydration to meet their needs. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

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.

Care was person centred to enable staff to support people how they wished to be supported. One person said, “Staff come and talk with me, they ask if anything is wrong and check I am okay.” People and their relatives were involved in planning care and told us communication was good.

Staff told us before people came to the service, they undertook a full assessment of their needs to ensure they could be met. This involved meeting with people and their relatives and getting feedback from other health professionals involved in the person’s care.

People and their relatives were involved in the assessment process and staff used a number of clinical tools to identify needs. Care was planned and delivered from these assessments and reviewed when required to ensure the most up to date information was available.

People were positive about the food and hydration on offer at the service. One person said, “Definitely get good food, that is what makes me better, we have variety, every day is difference, it is hot, and we have enough fruit and veg. The staff make sure I drink enough.” Another person said, “All the meals are good, I like the food and would bring anyone to eat here.”

Staff knew people well and how they liked to be supported with food and drink. The chef told us they asked people each day what they would prefer to eat and gave people choices.

Staff used nutritional and hydration assessments to guide them on how to best support people with eating and drinking. Where indicated people were referred to the GP, dietitian or speech and language therapist for assessments and advice. Any advice was clearly documented in care plans. Although people reported they had enough to eat and drink and we observed throughout the day people being supported, staff did not always reflect this in care records.

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.

We did not look at Supporting people to live healthier lives during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

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.

People’s consent was obtained for their care and support needs. Where appropriate people’s family or advocates were consulted on decisions.

Staff had received training in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Staff understood the need to gain consent from people for care and to encourage people to make decisions for themselves. Where people were unable to do this best interest decisions were in place. The registered manager had made the appropriate DoLS application and whilst waiting for these to be assessed was adhering to the least restrictive principles to keep people safe.

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. The MCA requires that, as far as possible, people make their own decisions and are helped to do so when needed. When they lack mental capacity to take particular decisions, any made on their behalf must be in their best interests and as least restrictive as possible. 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). DoLS application had been made and legal authorisations were in place where required. Where authorisations needed to be reviewed the registered manager had applied for these.