Acorn House - Croydon

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 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. A clear vision was in place which embraced the provider’s values of delivering personalised inclusive care.

The provider had inclusive leaders at all levels who understood the context in which they delivered care 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.

There was a clear management structure in place including senior care workers, deputy manager and the registered manager. There was also support from higher management and staff working at the provider’s other nearby services.

Staff, people and their relatives were positive about the management team and found them approachable and accessible. A relative said, “We are very happy that [name] is the manager now. She was the assistant manager when [their family member] first came here. If there is anything we ever need to discuss, we can ring up and speak to her or see her when we visit… You can always talk to the management team, and they are very approachable.” A staff member said, “[The registered manager] has been brilliant and is really kind. She listens and is very approachable.” The deputy manager also took part in care delivery which enabled them to get to know people and frontline staff well.

At our previous assessment a new manager was in post who had started to make several changes, but these had not yet been embedded into service delivery. That manager was no longer at the service, but the current manager had been the previous deputy and had bought some stability to the management and leadership team.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. A freedom to speak up policy was in place and staff felt able to speak openly. A staff member said, “We can freely go and talk to them (the registered manager) if there any concerns.” The freedom to speak up policy needed updating to ensure it accurately reflected the nominated freedom to speak up guardian. The management team confirmed this would be done.

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. Policies and procedures were in place to support staff both professionally and personally. The management team were flexible and supportive to their staff, enabling them to flex their shifts around personal commitments. A staff member told us, “My manager looks after my wellbeing.” Diversity within the staff team was welcomed and policies were in place to ensure staff worked in an environment that was free from discrimination.

The provider had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance. They used these to manage and deliver good quality, sustainable care and support. They acted on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, and shared this securely with others when appropriate.

Improvements had been made to the governance structure to review the quality and safety of care delivery. This included a regular programme of audits, as well as a quarterly quality meeting which reviewed key service data including any safeguarding concerns, incidents and accidents to identify learning and share this learning across the provider’s homes.

Further plans were in place to continue to develop the governance system and make it fully digitalised so there could be further manipulation of data to identify any trends and as part of their continuous development plan.

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.

Staff worked in partnership with people, relatives, staff and visiting professionals to ensure continuity of care delivery and a holistic approach to care. These groups felt involved in service development and felt their views were considered and listened to. There were regular staff, resident and relative meetings as well as completion of annual satisfaction surveys to gather people’s views and experiences.

The provider focused on continuous learning and improvement across the organisation and local system. They encouraged creative ways of delivering equality of experience, outcome and quality of life for people.

Staff emphasised the importance of continuous development and a drive to continue to improve the service. A relative told us, “A lot of improvements have been made since [name] has been manager.” At the time of our assessment some environmental work was taking place to further improve the fire safety system at the service. There were plans to further enhance the environment as well as further digitalisation of some systems.

The provider had bought in a consultant to lead on quality and provide that focus and oversight of the improvement programme.