Wensley House Residential 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

People’s needs were assessed before they moved into the home. People’s care needs were met through positive outcomes that were consistently achieved and met people’s expectations. People and relatives commented on the positive impact they had. All staff understood how to support people and the importance of building relationships. People were supported by a staff team who sought consent and respected those decisions when delivering person-centred care. Staff had received training to recognise when a person may lack capacity, however some staff did not demonstrate their awareness of this to us.

This service scored 58 (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 Assessing needs during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at Delivering evidence-based care and treatment during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

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.

People and their relatives told us they were involved in care planning and kept informed about any changes. They said that staff were approachable felt comfortable having decisions about their care. One relative said, “The staff have always informed me in a timely manner of changes in health needs or more notable issues such as a fall that resulted in an injury.”

People were happy with their meals which were freshly cooked daily and based on people preferences and choice. One person said, “The food is really nice here, so much so I have put on weight since moving in. We have three hot meals a day, lots of snacks whenever I want, and if I don’t like something the chef will cook me something different.” People and relatives said a new activities coordinator had been employed which meant recently there were more activities to improve people's wellbeing.

Staff were knowledgeable about people’s specific health needs and how they could support and promote well-being in their roles. Staff knew who required fortified diets and specific assistance from staff at mealtimes. The kitchen staff were aware of who required a fortified diet, a specific consistency of food, or diabetic diet due to their health needs, although this was not documented. Staff told us that changes made to the mealtime having two sittings had vastly improved how they supported people, and that they noted an overall improvement in people’s weight as a result.

The registered manager worked closely with a multidisciplinary healthcare team which included the community matron and remote support from the GP. When needed other professionals were referred to such as district nursing teams, mental health services and dieticians. People were supported to remain active and healthy by the culture at the care home. This included physical activities. Staff told us they felt supported by the reviews which are completed, and their ability to request people are reviewed if their health appears to change. Improvements were put in place during assessment to ensure kitchen records fully reflected peoples specific dietary needs. The mealtimes were reviewed to operate two sittings to ensure people received their meals promptly and staff had time to assist them. The registered manager also reviewed their policy to not have relatives visit at mealtimes. This again provided popular among some relatives, and helped staff then focus on people who required more assistance with eating and drinking.

People’s care needs were met through positive outcomes that were consistently achieved and met people’s expectations. People and relatives commented on the positive impact they had felt since moving into their new home. Comments included, “I feel very safe here, before was not so good, but since I moved things are better and I am not worried living here. I think I am well looked after; I don’t worry much about that anymore.”

All staff understood how to support people, the importance of building relationships to ‘know’ people’s expectations and to achieve positive outcomes. For example, a staff member said, “When new residents move into the service, it’s important to build a strong, trusting relationship with them as soon as possible. I actively contribute to care plans by providing observations, feedback, and suggestions based on my interactions with the residents. I share any relevant information such as changes in their mood, behaviour, physical condition, or preferences. This helps ensure their care is comprehensive and accurate.”

A health professional said, “[Person] is new to the care home, but the manager already knows a lot about them and has been trying different ways to improve their mood. The care staff and manager have been very proactive.”

This feedback supported the view that staff understand people’s needs to ensure outcomes are positive and consistent and meet their needs.

Processes were in place to monitor people’s care, support and social needs to achieve positive outcomes. These processes included reviews of people’s care needs through discussions with people, relatives, health professionals. Listening to staff opinions and ideas to improve care and operating an open culture where people and staff could share opinions. Processes supported an open culture, whereby people were supported in a person centred manner. Staff introduced new ideas to people to enhance their quality of life, such as new activities and skills, for example weekly fitness, to help with strength and mobility and reduce falls, but also to promote social inclusion and engagement and promote positive wellbeing.

People were supported by a staff team who sought consent and respected those decisions when delivering person-centred care. People and their relatives said that staff sought consent and respected people’s choices and decisions. One person said, “They ask every time before wanting to do anything and if I say no, it’s no and they come back later.”

Overall staff were aware of how to support people who may be unable to make their own decisions. Although some staff were not clear regarding the legal definition of when people lack capacity. For example, one staff member said, “As per my understanding everyone has capacity. There are restrictions though for going out. I know who has Dols, [deprivation of liberty] and the care plan have details of the DoLs.” Deprivation of liberty safeguards deprive people of their liberty to receive care and treatment when this is in their best interests and legally authorised. In care homes this is through the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Staff were not aware that people would lack capacity for a DoL’s to be imposed. A second staff member could also not demonstrate their understanding by saying, “As far as I am concerned all the residents have capacity to make day to day decisions.” It was clear from the assessments and DoLS in place this was not accurate. However, feedback from a health professional gave assurance that people were part of those discussions. They said, “Although [person] has been assessed as lacking mental capacity to make a valid decision about care and accommodation, they were supported to participate in the decision-making process.”

Staff asked for people's consent before providing care and support. People's capacity to make decisions had been assessed and these were individual to the person. Where people were deprived of their liberty, applications had been made to the Local Authority for DoLS assessments to be considered for approval and authorisation. However, the MCA did not clearly document how capacity was assessed, and best interest decision did not always explore alternatives or describe how to manage the decision. The registered manager acknowledged this improvement and took steps to address this immediately.