Oaks Care Holdings LTD

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

Well-led – this means we looked for evidence that service leadership, management and governance assured high-quality, person-centred care; supported learning and innovation; and promoted an open, fair culture. This is the first assessment for this newly registered service. This key question has been rated Good. This meant the service was consistently managed and well-led. Leaders and the culture they created promoted high-quality, person-centred care. People were provided with a good quality service which included senior staff listening to people and taken on feedback and suggestions. Management had a good oversight of the service and used tools to help them identify shortfalls or areas for improvement. There was a positive culture within the service and staff were happy working for the provider. Management learned from previous incidents and they strove to use these lessons to continue to improve the service provided.

This service scored 71 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

There was a shared direction within the staff team. The registered manager told us, “I was seeing people get stuck in hospital and I felt we could make a difference. I want to be a bespoke, small, family-run service. As an organisation we have our goals and values which every staff is aware of. We have an open culture and put our clients first in everything we do. We respect our clients and families and we listen carefully to what they are saying to us. We act on feedback and provide assurance that their opinion counts.” This was reiterated by a staff member who said, “I feel like I am working with a family at the moment as the agency is so small. There is good communication and nothing is hidden.”

We heard positive things about the registered manager. A relative told us, “It’s the interest they show in [person’s name]. I don’t think there is anything they can improve. [Registered manager] has trained the staff as well as they can be and he keeps an eye on them.” The service provided the regulated activity to a small number of people and the registered manager gave hands-on care meaning they knew people well and had a good oversight of people’s needs, the service and the quality of care being provided. However, they had established robust governance systems to help ensure that as they grew, information would be recorded and analysed to help them continue to provide the individualised, bespoke service they aspired to.

Staff had access to the service’s policies and the registered manager made it clear to them they could speak with social services or any other external team if they had concerns or wished to report something.

The registered manager told us staff underwent training in equality and diversity and we confirmed this through the training records. This meant staff understood the need to give everyone the same rights and opportunities and to value and respect people's differences. Recruitment practices were inclusive. The provider recruited staff through a range of processes. This included recruitment via sponsorship. This meant prospective staff had the opportunity to work and live in the UK.

The registered manager carried out a monthly audit which recorded any complaints, the punctuality of staff, medication records, care plan reviews and information about accidents and incidents. They told us, “We make sure we record and review everything, even if it is not part of the care package. For example, the medicines someone is on, or whether they use an inhaler. I will also record issues which may not be regarded as a complaint or concern.” These arrangements helped identify shortfalls as following analysis of accidents and incidents through these governance arrangements, the registered manager had recommended referring one person for a transfer aid for one person to help prevent their near misses (falls). We discussed with the registered manager the need to review documentation for everyone to ensure all areas of care needs and risks to the person were recorded as, although staff input was minimal as people lived with relatives, it is good practice to include as much information about the person as possible.

The registered manager was part of the registered manager network in Kent and told us they also worked with a couple of local care agencies as a contingency should they need additional care staff. They said, “We have done community referrals before and we are happy to drop off or pick up prescriptions for people.” At Christmas the service sponsored a Christmas tree at a church in Gillingham. The tree would be given a family/community member who could not afford to buy their own. The registered manager also worked with external professionals in relation to people’s needs, such as the GP or social worker.

The registered manager learnt from previous mistakes. They told us, “The first care package we had, the carer didn’t know how to make porridge. I lost the care package because of that and I now have a crib pack that goes through the basic details of making English food. It forms part of staff’s induction programme.” The registered manager established a ‘you said, we did’ record to record the issues raised by people and their actions. They added, “We wish to take a slow approach to building the agency, making sure we recruit the right staff who have the right training. We want to be reliable and robust and we have learnt from the last couple of years since we registered.”