Redcot Residential 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

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 64 (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.

The regional director told us they wanted to create a homely environment where people’s individual needs and personalities were met. They told us, “We start this right from the assessment, to show people, families and staff how we think care should be provided.” We observed the caring and happy approach ran throughout the home. Housekeeping staff, care staff and senior managers had in-depth conversations and shared jokes with people which showed how well they knew them.

Staff told us the regional director and regional dementia care director were always available to offer support and guidance. One staff member told us they enjoyed their job and although there had been some difficult times due to management changes they felt things had now improved. They told us, “It’s a nice place to work and I love our residents. It helps to know we’re supported but also to know what’s expected of us.”

The provider had inclusive senior leaders who understood the context in which they delivered care, treatment and support and embodied the culture and values of their workforce and organisation. They had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively. They did so with integrity, openness and honesty. However, the service did not have a registered manager in place. A manager had been in post for several months prior to our assessment although had left their position before their registration with CQC had been completed. The regional director had previously held the position of registered manager and alongside the regional dementia care director they had returned to Redcot to provide additional managerial support. On the day of our assessment, interviews for an interim manager had been planned and recruitment for a permanent manager had started. Whilst people and staff found the changes in the management team unsettling, they felt supported by the deputy manager and the senior leadership team. One staff member told us, “Redcot is a good place to work; I feel very positive about working here. The management tries as much as they can to run the place well, and I think they manage this. In the mornings we have a discussion about residents and their needs or any issues developing. The management reacts quickly to resolve any difficulties.”

We observed the management team were known by people and their families and demonstrated a caring and compassionate approach. For example, the regional dementia care director had arranged to have lunch with one person which was clearly a regular occurrence. They spent time chatting easily with the person and others which helped to create a relaxing lunchtime experience for everyone. We also saw the deputy manager and regional director respond swiftly to support people and staff during an incident.

The provider did not always foster a positive culture where people and staff felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. Whilst we identified a positive culture across the service at the time of our assessment, the regional director and external professionals told us the service had been through a difficult time a few months prior to our visit. The regional director acknowledged the support for staff had slipped for a while and staff had felt disengaged and frustrated. The regional director and regional dementia care director told us they had reviewed the reasons the concerns had not been picked up at an earlier stage and improved systems to build relationships and trust with staff members. This included a senior staff member to attend all handovers, an increase in staff meetings, a greater management presence at the service and plans to increase the number of staff surveys being undertaken. They felt staff were now being more open regarding any concerns as they knew action would be taken when they raised an issue or asked for guidance. One staff member confirmed they felt reassured by the increased presence of the senior leadership team. They told us, “Things are much better now [leadership team] are here more. We can talk about any problems; they seem to understand.”

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. Staff told us they felt the service was an inclusive place to work. One staff member told us, “There is respect for everyone, staff, managers, residents. We are one team.” The provider looked at different ways to accommodate staff needs such as ensuring there was a room which staff could use should they wish to pray. All staff were required to complete equality and diversity training, and the provider had a policy in place which reflected expectations throughout the service.

The provider did not always have clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability or good governance. They did not always act on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, or share this securely with others when appropriate.

Records in relation to people’s care needs and life histories were not always detailed. The senior leadership team told us they were aware additional information was required, and we observed this was highlighted on their action plan. However, we found that staff knew people well which reduced the risk of their needs not being met.

The regional director and regional dementia care director told us they were aware the standards within the service had slipped for a while although felt their increased presence in the home for the two months prior to our assessment had led to significant improvements to the quality of support people received and to staff morale. They were able to describe why they felt the concerns had arisen, what measures they had taken to embed positive changes and how they would monitor things differently going forward. We heard from people, relatives and staff how they felt more assured and listened to following the changes implemented. One relative told us, “Things did feel somewhat different for a while but have improved again now. Everything feels more settled.”

The provider had implemented a range of quality assurance systems to identify where improvements in the quality of service provided was required. These included audits, surveys and mock inspections from an external consultant. Where shortfalls were identified, these were added to the service action plan and allocated to a manager to address. This had led to improvements such as the medicines trolley being moved to a cooler area to ensure medicines were stored in line with requirements, changes to care records and risk management, and an increased management presence in the service, including night visits. Whilst these systems were largely effective in bringing about positive change, we found the majority of actions did not have target dates for completion which had resulted in some required changes not being rectified in a timely manner. The regional director assured us this would be addressed.

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. Professionals we spoke with told us the service were engaged with them and were willing to learn and input any suggestions they made. In addition, the service had made a number of external links within the local area. This included visits from the local school who visited regularly, links with churches, a local museum and a farm who visited with animals. The regional director told us, “It’s really important for us to be part of this community. We have always had such support from them and we continue to try and build on that.” One relative told us, “Redcot is very well respected locally. It always has been.”

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. In addition to the in-house action plan, the provider had a dementia strategy which was being rolled out across its services. This had been developed using up to date research and best practice information. The strategy covered a number of areas such as a framework for assessing how individual services were meeting people’s needs, providing enhanced dementia training to staff, reviewing how meaningful activities were offered, making adjustments to the environment and on-going assessment to monitor progress in providing holistic, relationship-based care. We observed changes were being made to the environment to create quiet areas and increasing signage to help people orientate.

The provider looked to share learning across the organisation. The regional dementia care director was part of the provider safety group which was attended by managers from a number of the provider’s services. The group discussed safeguarding concerns and safety incidents to ensure lessons were learnt across services. This included discussions on safeguarding outcomes and discussing potential scenarios and how managers and systems would both identify and act on concerns.