Green Trees 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

Green Trees is a small family run care home. People, relatives and staff were aware of the management of the home. However, Due to recent concerns around management of the home, the accountability of managers was not as clear as it should be. A new manager had been appointed which aimed to address this situation. Auditing processes failed to identify concerns found during this inspection around risk assessments, medicines and care planning. Although we found people had not been harmed, the lack of effective auditing systems means this was a breach of regulation 17 (Good governance) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

This service scored 62 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

We did not look at Shared direction and culture during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

The registered manager was aware there had been concerns around the management structure and said that by taking on a manager in addition to themselves, this would create a more stable management structure. Staff told us they often felt confused who to go to for queries or support between the registered manager and owner. Following the new manager starting, staff said the home felt more stable and they had a clearer idea of the management structure. One staff member said,” It’s a lot better since she’s [manager] been here.”

At the time of the inspection a new manager had been in post for approximately a week. CQC had received significant concerns around the management structure and with both families and staff unsure who to go to for queries or support. We found the new manager had been through the appropriate recruitment checks. The registered manager and manager were aware of their legal responsibilities to inform CQC of any safeguarding and other reportable issues. At the time of this report, the new manager had left, and another manager had been employed. The local authority fed back to CQC that the newly appointed manager had been well received by staff and staff were working better together. The owner had stepped back and allowed the registered manager and manager to work together. The registered manager had also written to all relatives to explain the management structure and who to contact if they needed to.

We did not look at Freedom to speak up during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

We did not look at Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

The registered manager told us they completed regular audits of the service. We spoke with the registered manager about the auditing process and went through our concerns with them. The new manager told us they had identified issues with the auditing process and had included this on an action plan to review documentation and processes around monitoring quality of care.

There were auditing processes in place to monitor the quality of care. However, audits were tick box formats and did not adequately explain what had been audited or actioned when and if issues were found. For example, medicines audits failed to identify the concerns found during this inspection. Environmental audits noted what was looked at but failed to explain what was being assessed. For example, ‘mattresses’ was ticked yes or no but there was no guidance on what the audit was attempting to identify. The auditing processes failed to pick up the concerns found during this inspection.

We did not look at Partnerships and communities during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

We did not look at Learning, improvement and innovation during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.