Good –––
Is the service effective?
information about what action should be taken in the
event of people’s health conditions deteriorating or if they
suddenly experienced heart failure. The registered
manager told us and we saw they had worked with other
organisations such as, the local clinical commissioning
group who commission people’s services. They jointly
developed ‘resuscitate’ documentation so that this could
be linked to each person’s care journeys whether in the
hospice, hospital or at home.
The registered manager was aware of the current
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) guidance. They
knew about their responsibilities to make applications to
the supervisory body for people who did not have the
mental capacity to agree to any restrictions placed on them
to promote their safety and wellbeing. The registered
manager had informed us previously of one person who
had a DoLS authorisation in place. However, when this
person’s mental capacity to understand their care and
treatment returned the DoLS was no longer relied upon.
People were supported to eat, drink and maintain a
balanced diet. All the people we spoke with told us they
8 St Giles Hospice - Walsall Inspection report 21/12/2015
enjoyed the food at the hospice and they appreciated the
varied and flexible menu. One person said, “The food is
superb.” Another person told us that the food was,
“Excellent and they had really enjoyed their lunch.” We saw
the chef took the meals to each person which gave people
the opportunity of changing their minds if they wished
about the meal they had originally ordered. When we
spoke with the chef they told us about how they tried to
meet people’s individual food likes and dislikes. They gave
us examples of how some people may need smaller meal
portions and these would be offered on smaller plates if
this was the person’s preference. They told us, “I always
make sure there is a vegetarian option on the menu
because I think it is important that people have a choice.”
They also confirmed if people’s diets were based around
their cultural needs they would be able to cater for these
without any problems at all. We saw staff had the skills to
request specialist support from a dietician or a speech and
language therapist if a person’s eating and drinking
deteriorated. We saw that people had nutritional plans
which staff used to assess and monitor whether people’s
nutritional needs were being met effectively.