Valkyrie 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

People received nutrition and hydration in line with their needs. People were given choice and supported by staff who knew their requirements around their eating and drinking needs. The service was working within the principles of The Mental capacity Act (2005) (MCA) and if needed, appropriate legal authorisations were in place to deprive a person of their liberty. Care and support plans gave information about people’s ability to consent and anyone who had authority to act on their behalf. The service worked well with external professionals to ensure continuity of care.

This service scored 71 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Staff told us they had undergone training on person centred care planning and met with people weekly to discuss their care needs and to identify if there were any changes in their support needs.

Since the last inspection the registered manager had made changes to care plans to make them more inclusive of people’s needs. Staff had received training in person centred care planning, and they continued to develop care plans. Communication needs were assessed, and any support needed identified.

People told us they had enough to eat and drink at the service. One person said, “I like eating burgers, sausages, pizza and a roast on Sunday is nice.”

Staff knew people well and how they wished to be supported with food and drink. People were able to make their own food and drinks with staff providing main meals. People discussed menus at their monthly meeting and any changes they wished to make to the menu.

Where people had developed issues with eating and drinking or weight management, they were referred to the most appropriate health care professional such as the GP for further assessment and review. Care plans identified if people needed support with special diets such as for diabetes or if staff needed to be aware of choking issues. We noted weights had not been consistently recorded and the registered manager told us this was because the GP surgery monitored this. We recommend the registered manager continues with their own weight management records at the service to ensure if there are any issues they flagged promptly.

Before people came to live at the service the registered manager gained information from people’s healthcare providers and professionals to ensure they had all the information they needed to support people.

The registered manager engaged with people’s social workers, mental health teams, GPs and family to ensure they received continuity of care. Care and support was coordinated by the registered manager and people’s key workers.

People were supported to access healthcare. One person said, “The staff take me to have regular blood tests.” Another person said, “I went to the optician recently, all was okay but I wanted to change my frames.”

Staff supported people to access healthcare to support their wellbeing. For example, where people’s health conditions needed regular monitoring staff assisted people to attend appointments for blood tests, opticians, GPs and mental health professionals for reviews.

Care plans identified people’s health and wellbeing needs and how they wished to be supported to achieve their goals. Staff regularly supported people to attend hospital appointments for continued monitoring of long-term health conditions.

Staff told us they met with people weekly to discuss their care needs and review if they needed further support to promote positive outcomes for them. There was limited evidence structure tools for feedback was being used to capture people’s views and feelings. People told us they met with staff and spoke with them, but most were unable to identify which member of staff was their key worker or if these meetings happened in a structured way.

We recommend the registered manager develops tools that monitors people’s outcomes to measure if they are positive or need further improvements.

People’s consent was obtained for their care and support needs. Where appropriate people’s family or advocates were consulted on decisions. One person said, “I have an advocate and I meet with them monthly.”

Staff had received training in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Staff understood the need to gain consent from people for care and to encourage people to make decisions for themselves.

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). DoLS application had been made and legal authorisations were in place where required.