Clifton Lodge

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 was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them. People and their relatives were involved in their assessment to ensure care was person centred and relevant to them. Assessments were up to date and reviewed regularly with them. People’s communication needs were identified when they first had contact with the service and any adjustments needed with communication was recorded so that staff were aware of these. The provider had resources for the service to use to ensure people’s communication needs were met, such as large print and easy read.

The registered manager planned and delivered people’s care and treatment with them, including what was important and mattered to them. They did this in line with legislation and current evidence-based good practice and standards. Staff discussed best practice during meetings and supervision and the registered manager supported staff to stay up to date with additional training. The registered manager worked with the care home education team which is an educational team who goes into care homes to support staff with training and develop their skills. Feedback from the team given was that staff were very enthusiastic to learn new skills and attend training sessions. People’s dietary and hydration needs were monitored and where needed specialist diets were provided. If people had dietary needs identified staff referred people to the GP for review or involved speech and language therapists or dietitians for further assessment. When needed people’s weight and fluid intake were monitored and reviewed by the GP.

The registered manager 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. The registered manager coordinated admissions and discharges with other health professionals and relatives involved in people’s care to ensure they had continuity of their care needs.

The registered manager 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. Staff monitored people’s health to ensure they had access to healthcare promptly when needed. The registered manager involved a multidisciplinary healthcare team in supporting people’s health needs. There was weekly GP involvement at the service and when needed other professionals were involved such as dementia specialists, palliative care team and occupational therapists. The service employed a physiotherapist who worked with people to help maintain their mobility and completed assessments of their needs to guide staff with their care and support.

The registered manager 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. Staff met with people and relatives to review and discuss their care needs to ensure the service was meeting their needs. The registered manager also gathered feedback from relatives and people through meetings and surveys. One comment we saw on a survey said, “The staff are always kind and attentive and very professional. Staff keep the family involved and updated.”

The registered manager told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. People’s consent for care was sought and staff understood the requirement to seek consent for care from people. Staff supported people to make decisions for themselves and offered them choice during all interactions. 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). The registered manager was working within the principles of MCA and had applied for assessments and renewals of DoLS when required.