Charnwood Lodge

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 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 82 (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. Leaders had a shared direction that made sure each individual person was at the centre of their support when decisions about their lives were being made. The registered manager and staff showed a commitment to provide high-quality person-centred care, that was open, inclusive and empowering, and aimed to improve people’s experience and wellbeing. Staff described an open, supportive culture with comments including, “I would describe the service as good culture, fun and warm” and “I think personalised care is at the heart of the service, with approachable and supportive managers who really care about staff wellbeing.”

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 had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively. They always did so with integrity, openness and honesty. Relatives told us that the service was well managed. We received positive feedback from staff about the management team. A staff member told us, “The managers have ‘listening’ ears in that they do actually take the time to listen. They have created a positive culture of team work based on respect for everyone. The care is all about the people living here. I would describe the management team as very supportive, attentive, fully understand their role and ours and overall excellent!” Another staff member told us, “Managers are very, very good. The main difference here is that they are out there on the floor not stuck in an office, so they see and know what is happening. If I could rate it above excellent, I would.”

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. The provider had forums and processes where staff could raise concerns or make suggestions. We saw that management actively promoted staff to speak up to drive improvement. They encouraged staff to raise concerns, share ideas and learning and promoted the value of doing so. All staff were confident that their voices were heard, listened to and acted on. There was evidence to show managers investigated any concerns or issues sensitively and confidentially; lessons were shared and acted on. There was a whistleblowing policy in place and posters displayed informing staff how they could speak up with any concerns.

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. Staff told us the provider and the management team were exceptional at celebrating and supporting diversity and ensuring equality for all. A staff member told us, “On my first shift I needed to pray and in other places this has proved difficult. Here, managers gave me a room and put a do not disturb sticker on the door so I could pray undisturbed. On the second time I came here, there were no managers but staff did exactly the same thing. It is a very accepting and supportive culture here.” A second staff member told us, “There are a lot of different cultures and faiths here. Managers have developed a culture which encourages to share information and talk about our cultures, bring in food to share and celebrate key events. This is really inclusive and helps everyone understand, accept and respect each other.”

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. The service was registered prior to right support, right care, right culture guidance. However, the model of care was in line with current best practice guidance. The environment had been adapted to support people’s needs and people had life enhancing opportunities through personalised care. The provider maintained good oversight of the service and ensure the registered manager was provided with support, guidance and information to enable them to meet their responsibilities. Although we found shortfalls around the management of some areas of medicines, the registered manager provided assurances by acting immediately to mitigate risks and make improvements. They also implemented more robust monitoring and oversight to ensure improvements were embedded in staff working practices. There were robust systems in place to ensure regular review of people’s care plans and needs and to provide assurance people were being supported in the least restrictive way.

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 closely with external agencies and the local community to ensure people could access the services they needed and had equal access to facilities and opportunities in the local community. This included links with education facilities and community well being and social groups.

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. There were systems in place to ensure people staff and professionals were involved in developing and evaluating improvement and innovation initiatives. However, further work was needed to ensure relatives had the opportunity and felt involved in this process. There were processes in place to ensure that learning happens when things go wrong, and from examples of good practice. Staff were able to access the provider through internal communication systems were information and best practice was shared through themed topics and question and answer forums.