Larchwood Nursing and Residential 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

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. At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good. This meant the service was consistently managed and well-led. Leaders and the culture they created promoted high-quality, person-centred care.

This service scored 68 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The provider had a shared vision, strategy and culture. This was based on transparency, equity, equality and human rights, diversity and inclusion, engagement, and understanding challenges and the needs of people and their communities.

Staff were seen communicating effectively and sharing information to ensure people received timely and appropriate care. A staff member told us, “I feel people do receive safe care. Absolutely. Staff genuinely care.”

A person told us, “I think they do well with staff. There’s always plenty around and you see the same faces, which is good, because you get to know them and they get to know you.”

Leaders did not always have the knowledge needed to lead effectively. For example, the registered manager did not recognise and address safety concerns we found regarding the environment. While we had confidence in the registered manager’s ability to reduce risk following our feedback, continued improvement was needed to ensure they retained overall oversight and actioned risks identified in a timely manner.

However, the registered manager demonstrated to staff they were approachable and accessible. A staff member told us, “I think it says a lot because we have such low staff turnover, we are fully staffed, and if we need, staff pick up extra shifts to help out.”

Relatives told us that if they wanted to raise anything with the registered manager, they were approachable. A relative told us, “She is very approachable and friendly.”

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. The service had processes to support staff in speaking up and raising concerns. This included policies in relation to safeguarding and whistleblowing.

The provider valued diversity in their workforce. They worked towards an inclusive and fair culture by improving equality and equity for people who worked for them.

The registered manager had effective ways to enable staff to be part of an inclusive culture. For example, there were regular staff meetings and staff one to one supervisions.

The provider did not always have clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability or good governance. Audit and quality assurance of key areas of service provision did not identify concerns we found during our assessment. This meant issues were not always monitored appropriately to drive change. We found concerns with the environment, infection control, and oversight of people requiring regular repositioning. People were potentially being placed at risk. The registered manager responded promptly when we raised our concerns and provided evidence of improvements made and plans for continuous drive for change.

The provider understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, so services worked seamlessly for people. They shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement. We found evidence that the service worked closely with healthcare professionals to support people’s needs.

The registered manager told us that they had links with the local community and were taking part in the local scarecrow walk, by making the home’s own scarecrow to be displayed outside the home.

The provider focused on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. They encouraged creative ways of delivering equality of experience, outcome and quality of life for people. They actively contributed to safe, effective practice and research. The provider has systems to learn from incidents and trends, including sharing information at staff meetings to discuss lessons learnt. The registered manager was responsive to feedback from all sources.