Glentworth House

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 Requires Improvement. 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 93 (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.

The management team demonstrated an exceptional approach to the culture, openness and transparency of the service. Without exception people staff, relatives and professionals said the service had an open, inclusive and welcoming culture, where people using the service came first and their satisfaction was a priority. All staff followed a set of 9 agreed values, which supported them to continually aspire to achieve good outcomes for people and led to high-quality care being delivered. A professional told us, “[Registered manager] treats his team with the upmost respect and is always very supportive of their development, and in striving to be the best that they can be as a home. The culture that he has created shines through in the way that the staff behave and go about their roles, and in how they interact with other staff, residents, families and us.”

Staff spoke with passion for providing outstanding outcomes for the people they supported and were proud of the difference they made to people's lives. One member of staff told us, “We want everyone who lives here to live their life to the full, we want to help them to do that.”

The service had a strong focus on how they could enable people to be fully involved in their life and care. The organisational culture fostered quality person-centred services, so that people could have a life well lived, and enabled people to be closely connected to their families, friends and community.
The provider had a clear shared vision, strategy and culture, which embraced diversity and was inclusive for all. The management team led by example, and staff understood the importance of upholding the values of the organisation. People’s human rights were fully embraced and supported. Policies and procedures had regard to equality and human rights, equity of care experiences, diversity and inclusion and the needs of people.

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 were visible, knowledgeable and supportive, and helped staff develop in their roles. The values of empowerment, individuality, respect, inclusiveness, and authenticity were embedded into everyday practices at the service. The service was led by an enthusiastic, motivated registered manager and senior management team. They were passionate about enabling the people at Glentworth House to live their best lives. They acted as role models for the whole staff team, working alongside them to support people. Their strong visibility allowed staff to raise any issues or concerns as they arose, which were addressed immediately for the benefit of the people living there. One member of staff told us, “I really enjoy working here. We are encouraged to give the best care we can. [Registered manager] is always here to help us, we can raise anything, and he wants us to learn and improve."
The registered manager focussed on succession planning and talent management within the staff team. They told us, “I want to empower the staff to better themselves and stay at the home. I want them to take over the home one day. I want them to develop in their roles and keep moving up.” A health professional added, “[Registered manager] empowers his staff by investing in their development, encouraging them to build on their areas of interest and expertise, and by promoting staff wellbeing, the result being that staff appear confident, motivated and happy in their work.”

 

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

The service had policies and procedures that supported staff in speaking up. Policies included the topics of safeguarding and whistleblowing. The registered manager told us the service actively supported staff to speak up with any concerns. Staff confirmed this. One member of staff told us, “We are encouraged to give feedback and be honest. [Registered manager] wants us to do that so we can all learn and do things differently or better.”

The provider strongly valued diversity in their workforce. They had an inclusive and fair culture which had improved equality and equity for people who worked for them.

Without exception staff felt respected, supported, and valued within all roles. Staff said they could raise any concerns without fear. They said the service continuously promoted equality and diversity in daily work and provided opportunities for development and career progression.

Staff were incredibly supportive of each other and worked collaboratively. The staff team displayed compassion, kindness, and empathy towards each other. One member of staff told us, “We all support each other, we are like a family. We help each other on the hard days and celebrate the good days.”

Staff had numerous opportunities to have input into the development of the service. They were able to share feedback during regular supervision meetings, staff meetings or directly with the registered manager on a one-to-one basis. Staff told us how the registered manager had changed their roles to fit with their personal life and improve their wellbeing. Furthermore, staff ideas had been acted upon and had led to improvements within the service. For example, staff had developed wellbeing initiatives and changes in respect to sharing information, through more effective handover meetings.

The support staff offered to each other contributed to the staff team having a very positive morale. This led to a low turnover of staff which meant people were cared for by a consistent staff team who knew them very well.

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.

Previous areas requiring improvement identified at the last inspection had been met in respect to systems of governance, quality monitoring and record keeping. Quality assurance processes were in place, designed to give an effective overview of quality of the service and identifying any shortfalls. The management at the service had implemented robust systems of governance and audit.
 

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.
Staff and leaders worked exceptionally well with local groups to ensure people using the service were part of their community. To enhance the quality and experience people received, leaders promoted collaborative ways of working with specialist services such as the community nursing team, care home in-reach team, occupational therapies, mental health services and other external professionals to support people’s needs. One health professional told us, “Staff demonstrate good awareness of residents’ individual needs, and care delivery is consistent with person-centred principles. When concerns arise, they are generally identified and addressed appropriately. This is reflected in their commitment to specialist areas such as their Huntington’s disease champions and their efforts to support holistic, individualised care. A particularly positive example was the home’s support for a resident to celebrate [a milestone birthday] in the community by attending a Grace Eyre clubbing event, demonstrating a strong focus on inclusion and wellbeing”. The registered manager added, “I will use professionals to get the best for everyone.”
The provider worked locally with other stakeholders to drive improvement in the local care sector. A professional told us, “[Registered manager] is a regular attendee of our manager's practice development group. He shares his experiences and expertise in a supportive way with his peers and helps create a feeling of camaraderie in what can be an isolated role.” We saw evidence of the findings of research projects carried out by the provider were used to guide best practice for other care homes locally. Furthermore, the service had connections with local schools and charities. For example, children from the local primary school wrote poems, drew pictures and visited the service.

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 adopted a continuous learning approach, and proactively looked to learn, drive improvement and innovate at the service, locally and within the whole care sector. For example, the provider had been working in partnership with a public research university to co-produce resources around good hydration practices for other care homes to be able to use to improve their resident hydration rates/levels. A professional told us of their work with the provider, “Our partnership working on co-production of a hydration charter for other care homes, is based on an open culture of shared learning, a collaborative working relationship which over period of several years of working together is built on trust and an ethos of shared decision making. We develop resources together and they are extremely proactive in utilising them in the home to see how it works and to further develop them with us based on honest sharing of learning.”

Staff were encouraged to develop their skills and learning, so they could provide the most appropriate care for people using up to date best practice guidelines to accurately meet peoples’ individual preferences and characteristics. For example, staff were allocated as ‘Champions’. These members of staff received in depth training around specific topics which included IPC, dementia, mental health/wellbeing, catheter care, Huntington’s disease, medication, manual handling, sex and sexuality and recycling. Additionally, the registered manager assists the local authority to help support other local registered managers.

The service also provided placements for students at local universities studying mental health nursing, adult nursing, nurse associate and social care qualifications.