Ellerslie 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

People’s support and care achieved good outcomes and promoted a good quality of life. This was based on good practice guidance. People’s needs were assessed, and support and care were delivered in line with current standards to achieve effective outcomes. People’s rights for seeking their consent and respecting their choices were upheld. Staff worked well together and with professionals external to the service for the benefit of people.

This service scored 67 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

During our site visits we saw staff assessing people’s needs and responding to any changes. We observed a person writing their own daily records. People told us the staff helped them complete tasks and activities in a way they liked. Relatives told us the way their relatives needs were assessed is improving and they are given the opportunity to review assessments and support plans and make suggestions.

Most staff told us they can contribute to people’s assessments and support plans. They said people’s needs were discussed during staff handover, team meetings and in their supervision sessions. Staff said their views were taken into account and that people’s assessments were regularly updated to reflect changes in their needs. The manager told us that as part of people’s monthly key worker meetings, assessments and support plans were reviewed and the keyworker updates them as needed. The manager said they completed observational supervisions with staff, and these highlighted what was working and where adjustments needed to be made. The manager told us they were moving to a different electronic recording system early next year, this will increase the ability of staff being able to continuously update people’s assessments and plans as required.

The service had a robust policy and procedure in place. The manager reviewed people’s assessments and support plans regularly and this was audited by the operations manager.

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.

People’s relatives told us that the service works effectively with other agencies, such as day services, GP’s, dentists and community learning disability nurses.

Staff told us they felt confident working with other agencies to ensure people had the appropriate care and support. They said they felt confident talking with professionals and giving them the appropriate information. The manager told us that the relationship amongst staff had improved. Staff moral had also improved. For example, staff were asking the manager questions and were open to discussion where they had lacked confidence to do so previously.

Professionals working with the service told us the communication from the service was good and the service was responsive and implemented recommendations when they were made.

Processes ensured staff worked well together and with partner agencies to ensure good outcomes for people. Records demonstrated people were referred to health professionals in a timely way.

We did not look at Supporting people to live healthier lives during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

People relatives told us, care and support needs were regularly monitored and reviewed.

Support workers told us they knew people well, they were able to describe what they would do if they noticed any changes in a people, or if the support they were providing was no longer effective. They told us they would tell the manager; they went on to say the manager would be supportive.

Records demonstrated people’s care and support were regularly reviewed. Risk assessments and support plans were updated if people’s needs changed. There was an effective system in place to ensure staff were aware of people’s changing needs and wishes. The manager was in the process of developing opportunity guidelines for people, to enable the team to provide the right level of support to enable the person to develop their skills and try different activities.

We observed staff explain to people, the support they wished to provide, and they gained consent prior to providing support. We observed staff working with a person in a way that enabled them to make an informed decision of what they were going to eat for their lunch.

Staff understood the importance of gaining consent from people prior to supporting them with activities or care. They had a good understanding of what action to take if a person declined the support at the time. A staff member said, “We will make sure the person is ready to be supported and give them some time if they are busy doing an activity”. Staff had a good understanding of what to do if they doubted a person had the capacity to consent to their care.

Effective processes were in place to ensure people consented to care and treatment. Records demonstrated effective processes in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 were in place to support people who did not have the capacity to make specific decision.