Albert Residential Home

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• 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 requires improvement. At this assessment the rating has changed to 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 75 (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.

People and staff told us there was a positive culture at the service and that they felt supported by the leadership of the service. One person who used the service told us, “Staff are absolutely fabulous and lovely.” A member of staff commented, “I am comfortable and happy.”

There was a shared vision and staff understood this. The registered manager made their expectations to staff clear and had systems in place to follow this up if the expectations were not met. They told us they wanted people to live meaningful lives, and we saw the work they had done to support people with this.

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.

People told us the service was managed well by capable leaders. They felt they were able to speak to the registered manager if they had concerns and that they would be listened to. One person told us, “I think they manage it well. I can’t think of anything to improve.” A member of staff commented, “I think he’s experienced and competent.”

The registered manager was open about the challenges and listened to feedback we gave. They understood their responsibilities in relation to duty of candour and when to complete this.

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

People and staff told us they were able to speak up when they needed to and that the registered manager would listen to suggestions. A member of staff told us, “I’m free and I can speak up, The atmosphere is [supportive] and I’m open to tell him anything.”

The registered manager understood the need to listen to feedback from people, their relatives and staff, and allow them to speak up. They told us they would listen to and address areas of concern by involving external agencies where appropriate.

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 had completed training in relation to equality, diversity and inclusion. They understood their role in acknowledging differences and we saw staff following this when supporting people by respecting their differences. A member of staff told us, “I have done the training. Treating everyone without bias. Diversity is acknowledging the backgrounds and beliefs. You put that all into consideration and you respect it.” We saw in the provider’s action plan that this was an area for improvement, and we found that the improvements had been made by ensuring staff had completed relevant training and were able to tell us what it meant.

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.

Staff told us there was a clear governance structure and they knew what to do if they were unsure on how best to support people or other aspects of their role. A member of staff told us, “There’s always someone here for help.”

The provider regularly undertook audits of the environment, medicines management and care records. Where actions were identified, they completed these. Where we identified a minor area in relation to medicines management, the registered manager immediately addressed this and included it in their audits.

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.

External professionals told us the registered manager generally took areas of improvement on board and shared information appropriately with partners to improve the service. The registered manager worked with external partners to improve the service. They engaged with wider learning opportunities such as the registered managers’ network to improve auditing systems and programmes to improve the service’s digital capabilities. A healthcare professional described their experience that staff supported people and understood their needs, “My impression that staff there is supportive of their clients, attended or were close to the patient supporting [them] during the consultations with me.”

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 registered manager used learning from incidents to improve their practices. They attended regular training delivered by partners such as the quality care home team from the local authority and partners. This included areas of learning such as falls prevention and sepsis training. Training was then shared with staff at the service to improve the care provided. One member of staff told us in relation to staff meetings which were held regularly to discuss how to improve people’s care, “We talk about their care and safeguarding. We talk about their preferences.” We found this had been effective based on people’s feedback.