West Hill Care Home

On this page

• Overview
• Shared direction and culture
• Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders
• Freedom to speak up
• Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion
• Governance, management and sustainability
• Partnerships and communities
• Learning, improvement and innovation

The provider had a robust quality monitoring system in place with regular audits being undertaken, for example, in medicines, infection control and health and safety. Shortfalls found during audits were acted upon and reviewed monthly. Communication in the service was effective and regular meetings ensured staff were kept up to date with any changes to people’s needs. People, relatives and staff had opportunities to provide feedback, either through feedback forms, attendance at regular meetings or informally to the manager. There was a clear management structure in place and staff understood their responsibilities to meet statutory requirements. Staff told us the management team were approachable and supportive.

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 management team had a culture of continuous improvement, which was embedded within the staff team at every level. Staff told us the culture in the service was open and transparent and that teamwork was good. Staff at all levels worked together cooperatively and respectfully.

Managers held meetings with staff groups regularly and staff had the opportunity to feed back any issues, concerns or suggestions. This was actively encouraged at team meetings, one to one supervision sessions or on an ad hoc basis. The service had a structured leadership approach and managers listened to staff, people and relatives. Changes had been made in the service as a direct result of staff feed back.

Staff told us the management team were approachable and supportive. Staff felt comfortable raising concerns and were confident appropriate actions would be taken. Staff were aware of escalation routes if they felt they were not being listened to. Staff had access to the provider's whistle blowing policy. The management team had thoroughly investigated any concerns that had been raised by staff.

Managers had a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination. Staff were treated equally, fairly and respectfully. Managers included staff at all levels in service developments and decision making. The provider deployed a diverse workforce and all staff were made to feel like a valued member of the team.

There was a clear management structure in place and nurses and care staff understood their responsibilities to meet statutory requirements. Staff told us they found the management team approachable and supportive. One staff member said, “The managers are lovely, they appreciate you and say, ‘well done’; I feel I am respected here.” Staff had regular supervision sessions where they could raise concerns or worries; staff found these useful. Staff told us they had regular meetings and were encouraged to attend and participate. When staff raised issues they were listened to and things were addressed, for example, a new tea trolley and personal protective equipment (PPE) stations, both because of feedback from staff. Staff told us the culture was open and honest with good teamwork.

The management team promoted a positive culrture within the service where people, relatives and staff felt empowered and involved. The manager had an open-door policy. There were meetings twice daily to share updates and a clinical governance meeting daily. There were weekly multidisciplinary team meetings for each floor. Accidents and incidents were reported and recorded on the electronic systems. This enabled the management team to have an oversight and ensure any required actions were completed in a timely manner. Trend analyses helped managers assess and act on any patterns. Audits were undertaken monthly in areas such as medicines, infection control, health and safety and kitchens. The audits were reviewed by the manager to monitor that any resulting actions were completed.

Managers and staff had a good working relationship with other health and social care partners. The GP visited the service regularly and nurses received a good response from 111 or 999 services where these were required. The staff team worked with various health professionals to develop their skills and knowledge so they could support people better. This included medicines training from the pharmacy partner, end of life training from the hospice teams and use of the restore tool from local health partners to support staff to recognise early signs of deteriorating health.

The local authority and health partners spoke positively about their relationship with managers and staff at West Hill Care Home. One professional, who visits the service regularly, said they had a great relationship with all staff. They told us they thought the care provided to people was 'excellent' and that interactions between staff and people were 'fantastic'.

There were processes in place to ensure continual learning and improvement was maintained. This was through the use of audits, action plans, investigations, research, meetings and feedback from staff, people and relatives. These processes were embedded throughout the organisation.

The leadership and staff team created a positive learning culture within the service where lessons were learned and shared when things went wrong. Investigations were thorough and included root cause analyses where required. Staff were encourage to use reflective practice as a learning tool following incidents or accidents. The management team had assigned a senior staff member to be the dementia lead for the service. This person worked closely with an external senior nurse specialist in dementia care to develop and embed evidence-based changes to improve the lives and outcomes for people living with dementia.