Fairfield

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 inspection we rated this key question good. At this inspection 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 79 (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.

A relative and staff were complimentary of the culture at Fairfield. We asked staff what they felt was good at the home. One staff member said, “It’s got a lovely atmosphere, the staff, morale and the length of staff service speaks volumes. We call ourselves Fairfield family because we are such a close-knit team, even with district nurses. We get good recommendations.” Another staff member said, “Management is good and it’s the knock-on effect. Staff respect each other so we treat each other well.”

Staff shared examples how they applied the providers vision and values. One staff member said, “I want everyone to feel special, I like to do something a bit different just to lighten people’s day, one person likes to dance and so I dance with them before supporting them with tasks, I play on what individuals like it just depends on each person.”

The registered manager said, “The culture has always been good here, the staff go above and beyond and volunteer to take residents out to the pub.”

The provider had inclusive leaders at all levels who understood the context in which they delivered care, treatment and support and embodied the culture and values of their workforce and organisation. Leaders had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively. They did so with integrity, openness and honesty.

A relative said this home had made such a positive difference to them and their family member. The relative described the home to us as “Brilliant, the atmosphere, the care and the management. I cannot fault the home.”

Staff felt supported by managers. One staff member explained management had offered to support with healthcare appointments. One staff member said, “Managers are supportive, their door is always open, any problems I can go to them I don’t ever have that dreaded moment to approach them.”

The registered manager said they felt supported from other managers and the provider. They said, “I can’t tell you this company gives you so much support. I was off but the duty manager had called me due to an emergency. I had called [Another manager] and the whole management team supported, everyone pitched in,” and shared “We see executive and provider team, all of them and they even know the members of staff here and their first names they come and walk around the home and speak with staff and check in.”

One healthcare professional told us, “The manager knows the needs of people well, she has a very open approach and always looking at the person best interests.”

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard.

Staff said they were able to raise any issues or concerns with the registered manager or management team if they needed to and said they would be listened to and acted upon. Staff meetings were regularly held, with staff saying they were able to raise any ideas or issues they had. Information on how staff could raise concerns was available.

One staff member said, “If I see something that I wasn't happy with I would go to the office and report what I heard or seen” and shared if they had any concerns about management then they would “Report it higher or go to CQC.”

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 provider had considered the needs of individual staff during religious festivals they offered flexible working. Staff shared examples how their own disability needs were met by senior staff. For example, staff had additional 1-1 support this enabled them to continue to provide good care for people.

The registered manager told us they created an inclusive environment including for those who identified themselves as lesbian, gay and transgender. People were supported to be safe in an open and inclusive environment.

The provider had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance. They used these to manage and deliver good quality, sustainable care, treatment and support. They acted on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, and shared this securely with others when appropriate.

The provider’s quality assurance team completed regular quality assurance visits at the home, there was also regular checks on staff practice to ensure people received good standards of care, expected by this provider.

The providers systems and processes were completed at regular frequencies, we could see, audits led to people receiving positive outcomes. Some completed audits were comprehensive and had identified themes and trends to prevent the reoccurrence from happening such as accidents and incidents. However, we did see some audits had not always identified issues that needing improvement, such as the checking of medicines and care plan accuracy. The registered manager recognised some of their auditing needed to be reviewed and said, “I think we need to improve our recording of data and making sure its accurate and done in a timely manner.” The director of quality and compliance assured us the issues we found would be rectified immediately and we saw action was underway.

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.

For example, referrals were made to external professionals where this was required for people. We received positive feedback from medical professionals working with the home. Comments included: “I get positive vibes from this care home. I don’t have any concerns. They have a ‘we can do approach’ and a ‘can do approach’ and it’s so refreshing; this means the care is tailored to people’s needs and circumstances.” Another professional shared they had delivered training to the home and said, “This provides a good foundation of knowledge for managing malnutrition and other nutrition topics.”

The registered manager said, where consent had been gained, they could access their family members electronic records. One relative said, “I am involved in the care planning, we can see it online. If she does an activity, we can see what she had to eat and there is a message to say if she’s not had to eat.”

The registered manager shared examples how using a dementia consultant had made an impact on people and their families and in one case helped them identify the root cause of a person’s distress and helped reduced the amount of times they become distressed.

Staff worked with the local community to deliver the best possible care and were receptive to new ideas. For example, the home had worked with George Eliot hospital around oral health care and had training delivered to their staff and now had oral care champions in place. Family members volunteered at the home to offer companionship, there was a Dementia Choir which came to the home, the provider had visits from the local school during festive periods. The registered manager said, “We open the home for trick or treating, the residents took part and joined in, they dressed up had masks and even gave out treats” and shared “Staff bring their children and some families bring in pets the residents love it.”

The provider had a strong focus on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. They always 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 had an evidenced based approach to improvements and shared learning from other services within the provider group. They were implementing circadian lighting at Fairfield following case studies which had showed improvements to people’s health and emotional wellbeing within other services. Circadian lighting isa lighting system that automatically adjusts its intensity and colour temperature throughout the day to mimic the natural light of the sun to help sleep patterns. The provider was working in collaboration with a university looking into the benefits of circadian lighting for people with dementia living in residential care.

The provider was also looking at introducing acoustic monitoring, it’sa technology using sound sensors to detect sounds indicating a need for assistance, this meant people could be checked on without being disturbed by routine checks. Thought had been considered to understand how this may impact on people’s human rights, with conversations being considered for people, relatives and advocates.

The provider offered additional training to ensure positive outcomes for people and support staff in developing a career in health and social care. Following feedback from staff about the accessibility to external training assessors the registered manager had identified staff who demonstrated an interest in developing within their role. The registered manager said, “I listened to my staff they weren’t happy so we looked internally who wanted to become an assessor, we discussed it in supervisions and appraisals” and shared because staff have completed the courses “its empowered my staff and gave them confidence they share the knowledge with other staff members and encouraged other staff members to enrol on courses. It’s given them an opportunity to shine and rise. I have seen so much confidence with my staff from these courses. Its making a difference to the people living here, staff are upskilling, and their knowledge is better.”
The management team said any new developments were discussed with all managers from the provider homes and they would openly talk and share feedback. They had recently developed a new policy which they had implemented with their night staff and staff felt more valued. Following this new policy the registered manager completed regular evening checks.

The management team explained, “We have a dementia consultant who look at triggers for behaviours. Staff are using it really well. It could be issues from the persons past or present, it has helped staff understand the needs of the person this includes families.”

There was also an internal learning development team to upskill staff in any area they wished to complete.