Alston House

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 inspection we rated this key question good. At this inspection the rating has remained 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 service made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them. For example, people and their relatives were involved in an admission process prior to moving into the service. This was used to develop comprehensive and individualised care plans for people.

The service 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. The service had adapted people’s meals to ensure they were suitable for people with food intolerances. A person said, “It’s nice food and I enjoy my meals. They know I like cornflakes for my breakfast.” The service had made adaptations to support people living with dementia. For example, they used different coloured tablecloths per mealtime to support people to identify the time of day.

The service 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. Some care records required review to ensure they were up to date and reflective of current people’s needs. The registered manager was aware of this and was in the process of reviewing all people’s care records.

The service supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to maximise their independence, choice and control. The service supported people to live healthier lives and where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support. For example, staff supported a person to monitor their blood glucose levels for the management of their diabetes and administer medicines for this where required with the support and guidance from the appropriate health professional.

The service 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. For example, people at risk of weight loss were routinely monitored by leaders to ensure action was taken to improve outcomes for people, such as providing food supplements to increase people's weight. The registered manager had identified and taken action to address and improve how staff documented outcomes for people so these could be monitored effectively by leaders.

The service told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. People’s views and wishes were considered, and we observed staff seeking consent from people when supporting them. People's capacity and ability to consent had been assessed appropriately and people acting lawfully on their behalf were involved in planning, managing and reviewing their care and treatment.