West Eaton Nursing 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 changed to outstanding.

This meant service leadership was exceptional and distinctive. Leaders and the culture they created drove and improved high-quality, person-centred care.

This service scored 89 (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 very clear shared vision, strategy and culture. This was based on transparency, equity, equality and human rights, diversity and inclusion, engagement, and an exceptional understanding of the challenges and the needs of people and their communities.

Management had created an outstanding culture characterised by openness, positivity, and accountability. They were highly visible and approachable and consistently demonstrated the service’s values through their daily interactions with people, relatives, and staff. Their leadership provided a strong and consistent example, ensuring expectations remained clear and aligned with the service’s vision.

People and their relatives consistently described the service as going beyond their contractual duties to improve people’s experiences and outcomes. One person told us, “They work hard here to keep us happy, bless them, as it must be difficult trying to keep us all happy, but they seem to manage it.” A person’s relative told us, “I don’t think you could get better than here; everyone is excellent. We as a family feel included in everything. Mum is so happy. She was a real poorly lady when she arrived and we didn’t think we would have her for very long, she’s now like a new person since living here thanks to the manager and her brilliant staff team. They really do go above and beyond with every aspect of care.”

Health professionals also recognised the positive impact the management team had on people’s lives. One health professional who visited the home regularly emailed, “I find both the care team, activitiesand kitchen team very approachable, always a very friendly smile welcomes you. Always lovely to see the wonderful activity team too in action when I visit – such an important part of residential care. Always lovely visiting this friendly, well manged care home.”

The registered manager recognised people accessing residential care often had increasingly complex physical, mental health and dementia related needs, which required good partnership working with external professionals, as well as a commitment to invest in staff training.

The registered manager and management team provided high-quality leadership. This had resulted in planned and continuous improvement within the service to facilitate the provision of good quality care and quality of life for people. This had been brought about through investment in the environment, opportunities for staff career progression, staff incentive programme, enhanced care planning and governance. The willingness to engage, listen and respond to feedback enabled the service to continually adapt, resulting in continuous improvement. Feedback from people, their family members, staff, and the reviewing of records and our observations evidenced the success of this approach.

The provider had exceptionally 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 always did so with integrity, openness and honesty.

The provider demonstrated a strong commitment to recognising and celebrating effective leadership across its services. Over the recent years the service and staff from different departments received multiple national awards and recognitions. For example, in 2023 West Eaton Nursing Home won the National Association of Care Catering Awards as the Care Establishment of the Year. In 2024 a member of staff won the Care Newcomers award at Great British Care Awards, and another staff received a highly commended in the carers award. In 2025 another member of staff, was a finalist Chef of the Year at Great British Care Awards, and another staff was a finalist for Activity Co-ordinator of the Year. The national recognitions reflected consistent focus on achieving positive outcomes for people and supporting and developing the staff team, as well as their ability to identify and nurture individual strengths.

The registered manager had created a highly positive and empowering culture, where staff were recognised as individuals and encouraged to develop their skills and interests. There were clear examples of how the manager had supported staff to grow in confidence and competence by assigning key roles aligned to their strengths, such as champions in key areas of care.

The service introduced peer mentoring to enable staff to share their experience and knowledge. A member of staff told us, “I am peer mentor, we went to another care home of the company, and we shared different opinions and the different ways of working.” Another member of staff said, “I worked with my peer mentor for 2 weeks, you have someone to guide you, to ask questions. It is like a teacher, someone who looks after you, that gives you the confidence boost.”

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

Staff were aware of the provider’s policies and procedures which supported them to raise any issues relating to poor practice, concerns and complaints. Staff were aware of freedom to speak up and said they were confident to raise any issues if, and when they arose.

People expressed feeling able to raise any concerns they might have and were confident their views would be taken seriously and acted upon. The provider had an accessible complaints and staff whistleblowing procedures in place, which set out clear expectations for how concerns should be reported and dealt with by the provider.

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 supported staff fairly and promoted an inclusive working environment. Policies reflected equality and diversity principles, and the management team ensured staff needs were understood and accommodated. All staff interviewed told us they felt valued and respected. Governance systems enabled the provider and registered manager to monitor for potential discrimination, bullying and harassment, through regular contact with staff, for example, supervisions and staff meetings. An open-door policy and culture of listening and respecting each other provided an environment conducive to speaking out.

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.

There were robust governance processes that evidenced good quality assurance and management oversight. These systems operated effectively and were used to monitor performance, manage risk and drive continuous improvement.

Records showed where concerns had been identified, required action had been taken appropriately and promptly. This information was used to learn from mistakes and drive improvements in people’s care. The registered manager was supported by a team to help manage the service and ensure they continued to provide safe, high quality and compassionate care in line with their values.

The provider clearly understood and carried out their duty to collaborate and worked in partnership, and services worked seamlessly for people. They always shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement.

The service developed outstanding links not only with local partners, but also with international community that helped in improving people’s quality of life in foreign countries. The service donated all their unused mobility and disability equipment to an international charity. This included Zimmer frames, walkers, wheelchairs and a nursing bed. The equipment was refurbished where appropriate and delivered to individuals and communities in need across countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Ghana, The Gambia, Iraq, Lebanon, Malawi, Pakistan, Palestine, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Uganda, and Yemen.

The service valued the vital support provided by paramedics and recognised the important role they played in caring for people. As a gesture of appreciation, the service created thank-you gift bags for paramedics who attended the West Eaton Nursing Home. The service developed links with a local hospice that provided end of life training for staff working at West Eaton Nursing Home.

We received positive feedback from healthcare professionals working with the service. A healthcare professional told us, “They are very knowledgeable, very friendly, very welcoming and that goes not only for nurses but the carers. All carers get to know me so they can always provide with information. The wound care is exceptional; they know every single person and their clinical knowledge is really good.” Another healthcare professional told us, “The rapport and communication is excellent from the manager down to everyone in the building”. Some healthcare professionals have expressed that the service was so outstanding that they would recommend it to their own parents.

The service became a role model for families and visitors. One person’s friend wrote, “We now have 3 ladies at church with dementia and our minister is going to set up a 'dementia awareness' training so we can help as compassionately as the staff at West Eaton do”.

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 service provider worked closely with the developers of a digital compliance and food safety system designed for commercial kitchens, care homes and nurseries, to adapt the software specifically for use within West Eaton Nursing Home. Through this collaboration, the system was enhanced to include not only the required kitchen compliance checks, but also bespoke digital checklists for their maintenance and housekeeping teams. The system has replaced traditional paper-based records with simple, step-by-step digital health, safety and hygiene checks, enabling staff to complete and record tasks more efficiently while ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.

The success of this project has transformed the way compliance was monitored across the service. It has improved accountability, reduced paperwork, provided real-time oversight of completed tasks and strengthened our quality assurance processes. By extending the system beyond the kitchen to include maintenance and housekeeping, the provider has created a consistent, organisation-wide approach to compliance that supported safer environments and more effective governance.

The service provider introduced acoustic monitoring at West Eaton Nursing Home. This proved to be extremely valuable in supporting residents, particularly during periods of deteriorating health and at the end of life. For example, staff were supporting a person receiving end of life care. Although staff were carrying out regular four-hourly checks, the acoustic monitoring system alerted them to unusual sounds coming from the person's room. Staff attended immediately and found the person required assistance. Because staff were able to respond so quickly, the person was not left alone during a distressing moment and received immediate compassionate care. Recognising the change in the person’s condition promptly also allowed staff to contact the family in time for them to come and say their goodbyes.

The acoustic system has also helped staff to identify changes in people’s health at an early stage. Staff were able to identify such symptoms as persistent coughing, increased restlessness, distress, or calling out can all trigger an alert, allowing staff to respond promptly. On one occasion, a person woke shortly after midnight shouting in pain. The person was unable to use the call bell, but the acoustic monitoring system alerted staff immediately. Staff were able to assess the person without delay, administer pain relief, and provide reassurance, significantly reducing the time they spent in discomfort.