Lillington House

During the assessment we spoke with people who lived at the service, their relatives, staff, the registered manager, external healthcare professionals and representatives from other partner organisations. We looked at care plans, recruitment files and quality assurance records. Due to the clinical nature of the service, people were often referred to as patients by staff and external healthcare professionals; this is reflected in the direct quotes contained within our report.

Lillington House works on a multi-disciplinary model with people being offered a range of therapy services and regular access to a consistent group of external specialist healthcare professionals. This clinical, therapeutic and holistic approach enabled people to achieve the best possible outcomes against a background of long-term medical conditions.

Staff levels were reflective of people’s individual medical and personal care needs. Staff received training to support their practice and were confident and competent in their roles. Changes in people’s health were quickly identified and appropriately escalated to external healthcare professionals for further advice and support. Staff understood their role in keeping people safe and described a culture of curiosity and learning to inform improvement and promote the delivery of consistent and safe care.

The provider used approaches based on best practice and which reflected research to support the delivery of high-quality care and achieve positive outcomes for people. Goals focused on what was important to people and staff held regular and effective multidisciplinary meetings to monitor progress and decide on different approaches to maximise people’s potential to achieve planned outcomes. Staff understood effective joint working to support people’s clinical pathways, rehabilitation and transition between services.

External healthcare professionals were very positive about the service and described effective information sharing to ensure people received the right support to manage their conditions and support their rehabilitation.

Systems and processes were in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service. The provider reviewed people’s care and developed case studies to identify areas of good and outstanding practice and where learning had been identified. Staff were encouraged to explore and consider new ways of working to develop their own practice and ensure positive outcomes for people.