Penwortham Grange and Lodge

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 recently appointed a new manager and together they had identified shortfalls in previous governance arrangements, for example around managing safeguarding concerns, and medicine errors. An action plan was already underway to address issues and required more time to become embedded. Staff were positive about the new management and felt supported. There was a clear process to monitor incidents and make any changes. The manager and provider were committed to continuous learning to improve care.

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.

We did not look at Shared direction and culture during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

Staff told us the new management arrangements had helped to develop a positive culture within the home. This helped achieve greater continuity of staff. Staff said that within a short period of time they felt much more supported and could contribute ideas about the running of the home. The manager told us there was a freedom to speak up guardian.

There were appropriate policies such as freedom to speak up, equality and diversity, and flexible working; staff knew how to access the whistleblowing policy. The service introduced 'employee of the month' to celebrate good practice.

We did not look at Freedom to speak up during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

We did not look at Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

The manager was new in post and was beginning to change the culture of the service and strengthen governance systems. Staff commented they felt more supported and they worked better as a team. Senior leaders were supporting the new manager and felt there had been a positive impact on the service.

The manager had begun to strengthen governance and performance management of the staff, and this was still being embedded. In the months prior to the inspection there were several safeguarding alerts and medicine errors which the team were working through to make sure learning from this was captured and improved upon. The provider was aware of their legal responsibilities regarding making notifications to statutory bodies. The service had been without a registered manager for approximately 7 months and the new manager had applied to become registered. There was a clear governance structure at provider level with processes to examine incidents, concerns and to monitor outcomes.

We did not look at Partnerships and communities during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

Staff said they did not always hear about the outcomes of safeguarding alerts. However, the manager said they shared lessons learned from incidents and investigations. The provider told us they launched a dementia promise recently and made a promise that all staff would be trained. The home was recently contacted by the local authority and the provider agreed to trial a lighting system which had been shown to reduce the number of falls within services.

The electronic system required staff to document lessons learned. These were discussed at governance meetings to make sure all relevant people were aware, and that learning and improvements could be shared. The manager and staff were encouraged to complete further learning to enhance and complement their roles. The provider had various groups and forums where managers were invited to join and review new initiatives.