Burrswood 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 management team had a shared vision, strategy, and culture. The challenges of improving since the last inspection had started with changing the culture of the home and ensuring staff had the correct values and they were included in the operations of the home. People, their relatives and staff told us the management team were completely visible and open. The registered manager operated a “No blame” culture and spoke with positivity about being transparent and learning from where things had gone wrong. Local authority partners gave us positive feedback about the improvements and told us the management team were responsive to their visits. Leaders had the skills, experience, and knowledge to lead the staff team. Staff spoke positively about the learning they had gained from the management team and how they implement the learning into their everyday roles. Staff were being supported with their personal development and provided with opportunities to obtain additional qualifications in their role. Governance systems had improved, and a new divisional director added an additional level of scrutiny to audits and oversight. The auditing process for daily records had not always identified areas for improvements but this was addressed following our feedback. Staff felt empowered to speak up without fear of reprisals. The home had received many compliments and people, and their relatives were extremely positive about the improvements since the last inspection. The provider was in the process of obtaining more formal feedback from people.

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.

Staff told us, the overall culture of the home had changed. The provision of a new management team and changes in the regional management team meant a new vision had been created and staff felt empowered and involved. Staff told us, they were more supported to speak with management and felt the communication now flowed both ways. Staff felt the current management team had the correct values and this was instrumental in influencing the homes improvement. The management were completely visible, and this offered staff and partners reassurance, the management team were aware of what was happening across the home. The social impact on people living at the home had been positive as staff no longer felt uneasy, and they felt empowered to share any information whether it be positive and negative. All staff spoke positively about the management team and the management team spoke positively of all staff. People and relatives felt the home had an established staff team who were happy to work at the home, this added to their relations experience of living at Burrswood Care Home

Staff were given the opportunity to learn and share information at regular team meetings as well as one to one and group supervision. Records of meetings and supervisions were documented.

The management team had met with each staff member during supervision and appraisal and had discussed their role and aspirations. As a result, some staff had been offered further training in end-of-life care as well as NVQ's. The registered manager regularly sat with staff and talked them through how they manage the home. For example, one staff member wanted to understand how they provider come to the number of staff on each shift. The registered manager sat with the staff member and talked them through the dependency tools to assist in staff understanding how the provider comes to the number of staff required on duty for each shift. The management team had identified areas for progression for some staff members, this included medication training and some training from the nurses to enable the staff to complete some nursing tasks under their direction. Other staff members had been identified as leaders and were being allocated additional management training including the deputy manager who was completing the level 5 diploma in leadership and management. The registered manager was a well-respected staff member and had a wealth of experience and qualification for managing other care establishments which required improvements to be made in a timely manner. Line managed by the regional director, they both worked well together in the best interests of people living at the home and the staff.

The registered manager continued to identify options for staff to develop by providing additional training and competency for themselves and the staff team.

Staff felt empowered to speak up and told us the new management team had given them the confidence to raise concerns and safely challenge. The registered manager assured us, it was no longer a blame culture but an environment where any concerns could be raised freely without fear of reprisals. Staff were aware of whistle blowing policies and knew who to contact should they need to share concerns. The whole culture of the home had changed into a more positive and open and transparent environment.

Staff received training in safeguarding vulnerable people and were aware of the whistle blowing policy. The monthly newsletter signposted people and their relatives to methods they can follow to raise concerns or speak up.

Staff felt empowered and treated fairly. Pay was the same for everyone regardless of sex and staff were given additional support to gain experience and qualification. Staff felt their wellbeing was looked after by the management team and they were included in trips out, meals out and takeaways as well as in house entertainment such as pyjama day and comic relief. The workforce now felt valued and respected, and this was evident throughout the whole assessment process.

Staff were given regularly opportunities as a group and on a one-to-one basis to share feedback and identify new learning opportunities through regular supervision and annual appraisal.

Staff understood their role and felt well supported. Staff told us the registered manager was “Brilliant and will try and help you anyway they can.” Staff told us Burrswood Care Home was a “Better place to work.” As the management team had oversight of the home, the people living there and the staff.

The management team had worked extensively with the local authority, the Care Quality Commission, the staff, people and their families to improve the culture and care of the home. A home improvement plan was in place which was regularly reviewed by the management team and the local authority. The local authority had recently taken a step back to allow the provider to continue to improve and was reviewing the plan less often. Audits were being completed to ensure the management team had oversight of the home and people’s wellbeing. Audits were mostly highlighting where there were shortfalls and actions were put into place to ensure the areas for improvement were completed. However, we saw the audits had not highlighted where some care and support tasks were not being recorded as completed in real time. Quality reviews were completed by the area directors which also highlighted areas to improve upon and by when.

The home had received multiple compliments from people and their relatives. One comment recorded, “Thank you for the newsletter. You've done a great job. You are doing everything far better than had been done for a very long time. Thank you". People and their relatives told us they knew how to raise any concerning information and were able to feedback to a variety of methods including to the Care Quality Commission. Relatives told us there was a monthly newsletter from the care home which gave contact details if they were worried about a person.

Staff were regularly communicating with health and social care professionals in the best interests of the people being supported at Burrswood Care Home. Commissioners met with the management team to review the improvement plans in place and to ensure the improvements were embed and sustained. Staff told us the partnership working with health and social care professionals had assisted in improving the home.

Partners continued to share positive feedback about the improvements across the home. Positive relationships had been built with partners since the last inspection and they felt the home was improving in the right direction and the management team were open and honest.

The management team and staff had built relationships with the local community including schools and other care homes. Staff supported the needs of diverse individuals, maintaining contact with their communities and ensuring their preferences were respected in the home. The management team was in the process of obtaining feedback from people which had not yet been fully analysed. Feedback reviewed had improved since the last inspection. The management team encouraged people and their relatives to give feedback on the care they received.

Staff told us they had been involved in improving the home and they felt listened to. Staff said the improvements started with the new management team and there was an effort to ensure all staff working at the home worked within their job role in the best interests of people living at the home. Staff told us experiences for people living at Burrswood Care Home had improved as the staff were united and ensured they worked together to keep people safe and well-cared for. The management team had a strategy of how to develop staff and there had been some positive case studies completed on how the team had worked together to improve outcomes for people.

More regular staff meetings were starting to be held. Health and safety meetings had commenced quarterly with the management and the health and safety team to ensure any health and safety risks were monitored and identified. Clinical meetings were regularly held. Staff were more involved in the operations of the home and were given additional responsibilities to implemented actions from action plans. Staff told us they took on their responsibility with great delight to improve the home.