Thorne House

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• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

Staff knew about people’s health needs and personal preferences and gave them as much choice and control as possible. However, people’s care plans did not contain sufficient information about the type of decisions people were able to make and how best to support them to make these decisions. Staff could describe how they supported people to maintain independence and policies supported this practice. We received mixed feedback from professionals regarding the consistency and skill set of staff in supporting some people to become more independent. People had access to activities and the local community to promote and support their independence, health, and well being.

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.

We did not look at Kindness, compassion and dignity during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

We did not look at Treating people as individuals during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

Overall people and their relatives told us that they were involved in discussions about their care plan, staff were kind and caring, and they were supported to be as independent as possible. One relative said, “They help [person] to be independent. [Person] has made progress being independent, they can do quite a lot.’’ People were provided with meaningful activities, linked to their hobbies and interests. People were encouraged to participate in training provided to staff to enhance their knowledge and independence. One person told us, “I do all the training that staff do and have all the certificates – I did Buccal (medication) and Epilepsy training this morning.”

Staff could describe how they encouraged people to maintain independence and how they supported them to have choice and control over their lives. One staff member said, “[Name] uses Makaton and their own signs to communicate. I will ask verbally and sign to gain consent.” Staff supported people to take part in a wide range of activities and holidays to support their independence, health, and well being. One staff commented, “People will identify what activities they want to do through picture cards or other communication. [Name] has 2 holidays every year.”

Staff were kind and considerate in their interactions with people. Staff were seen to engaged people in decisions and were seen to involve people in activities of their choosing throughout the assessment period.

Whilst staff were knowledgeable and had received training in the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) information in some care records on the new electronic recording system lacked sufficient detail on what support people needed to make decisions. We received reassurance that this was being addressed. We received mixed feedback from partners regarding staffing. One professional felt that staffing changes had impacted on how well a person had progressed with their independence and felt that their 1:1 time was not being used effectively. Another had noticed more consistency since the recruitment of new staff. The manager confirmed that the use of agency was reducing. People’s personal, cultural, social, and religious needs were understood and met. People had access to activities and the local community to promote and support their independence, health, and well being. People and their relatives were seen to contribute to the development of their care records through reviews and Person-Centred Planning Meetings (PCP’s). Staff received training in Person Centred Active Support. This training guides staff on how to support people with participation, independence, and choice.

We did not look at Responding to people’s immediate needs during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

We did not look at Workforce wellbeing and enablement during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.