West Lodge Care Home

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. 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 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 were effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them. Since our last visit the new manager had reviewed people’s care plans and offered opportunities for people and people who are close to them to be involved. Care plans demonstrated how people wanted to be cared for and what was important to them. Clinical care plans provided clear guidance for the nurses to follow including catheter care and diabetes. This meant people were having their assessed needs met. One person told us, “[Staff] have ensured [person] has got the care they need. [Person] has been here since October and the staff know all of [their] needs.” We found when changes had occurred to people’s care needs, care plans were updated and all staff were informed through the electronic handover system.

The new manager planned and delivered people’s care and treatment with them, including what was important to them. This had been done in line with legislation and current evidence-based good practice and standards. People’s nutrition and hydration needs were supported in line with current standards. We observed people were offered a choice of meal during lunchtime. Throughout the assessment staff offered people drinks. Staff had identified people at risk of weight loss and there was a system in place to monitor their weight and a process in place to regain the weight.

The provider 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 were provided with clear, accurate and reflective information and guidance by management on how people wanted to be supported and how to manage any known risks. Partners told us the new manager had worked well with them and had actioned what was required within a timely manner.

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. We found people were supported to maintain their health to support their physical and mental wellbeing. For example, health assessments had been completed by external healthcare professionals to avoid deterioration to people’s health. People’s care plans included specialist advice and guidance that had been obtained where people had additional support needs, such as diabetes care plans which were person-centred from advice obtained. The rota included a full-time activity staff member to ensure people’s wellbeing and physical well-being needs were met. We observed meaningful activities on the day of our visit.

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. The new manager put effective processes in place to ensure monitoring tools were in place and reviewed to identify any risks. Where people required their weight to be monitored this was completed. A visitor told us the home worked hard to ensure their friend put back on the weight they lost before moving into the care home. There was a process and system in place to monitor people’s dietary and fluid intake and where risks were identified we found action was taken to reduce risks. Care plans were updated to reflect changes implemented by other health professionals to support best practice.

The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. We found improvements to the mental capacity assessments being completed. The new manager had reviewed them to ensure they met the Mental Capacity Act and where people’s mental capacity assessments did not meet the principles the new manager was in the process of re-assessing people. The manager was working with the local authority to ensure the standards of the assessments met the legal requirements. When people had been assessed as lacking capacity to make certain decisions Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) applications had been completed appropriately when needed and subsequent authorisations were recorded. Where people had conditions, the manager told us they had put care plans in place to provide staff with guidance on how to meet the conditions. The provider was working with a registered charity to provide people with advocates where needed.