Swarthdale Nursing 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 was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them. People and their relatives told us they had been involved in their assessments and care planning. One person said, “I was involved in my care plan and sometimes the staff will ask me if there are things I want to change.” We saw that care plans were regularly reviewed involving the relevant people. People’s differing communications needs had been appropriately recorded. The staff used a variety of clinical assessments tools to establish peoples’ need.

The provider planned and delivered people’s care and treatment with them, including what was important and mattered to them. People received care, treatment and support that was evidence-based and in line with good practice standards. People told us they felt staff knew their needs well and supported them in the right way. People’s nutrition and hydration needs were being met. We saw people were appropriately supported with eating and drinking where they needed it. Feedback about the food choices and quality were all positive and demonstrated that the kitchen staff knew people’s individual dietary needs. One person said, “I do enjoy my food. I haven’t got a good appetite, but the cook does me small portions that I can manage and not feel over faced.”

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. Care records were electronic and these were accessible to staff in live time with current information. We observed regular handover of information at each shift change. Meetings were held regularly for sharing information about people’s needs. Weekly clinical reviews of care were held with the local GP practice staff. A visiting health professional spoke very positively about their relationship with the home and was impressed with the clinical knowledge in the staff team.

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. People were fully supported in making choices about their own health needs. One person told us, “The staff take good care of my health needs, doctors’, etc. The home has a check-in with the doctors every week so that is good. If there is a problem they can report it.” People were supported to access a variety of external health professionals such as the dentist, optician and podiatrist as they needed to.

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. People experienced positive outcomes. A relative spoke positively about the way in which the staff were skilled in supporting with changes in people’s behaviours and needs. We were told by a relative, “Just recently the home got the doctor to come and discuss my relatives medication with us and it was done immediately.” People’s independence was actively promoted in a safe manner. One person said, “I can be as independent as is safe. The staff organise my room so that the path is clear.”

The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. People’s needs and wishes were upheld. We observed and people told us staff knew them well. Consent had been obtained in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). Relatives who had Power of Attorney told us they had fully involved and kept up to date. We observed staff being courteous and respectful when asking people to do things. One person told us, “The staff always ask to enter my room to do their job.”