Hill Barn 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

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 68 (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.

Staff worked together to deliver person‑centred care and created a warm and welcoming environment, where they knew them as individuals. The registered manager maintained a visible presence within the service and actively monitored the culture to identify and address any potential signs of a closed culture. Staff told us the manager promoted a culture of openness and good communication, which supported positive team working and outcomes for people.

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. They did so with integrity, openness and honesty. However, leaders did not always have the skills, knowledge, experience to lead effectively.

We received mixed feedback from staff about the provider, 1 staff member told us, “I feel valued by my colleagues and manager but not by the provider. In Hill barn staff work really hard to go above and beyond but it isn’t noticed by the provider.” While another said, “I feel valued by my employer.”

However, we received overwhelming positive feedback regarding the manager from both staff and people’s relatives. One relative said, “The manager is terrific. The home is well managed and she has been transformative.” While another said, “We were impressed with the manager when we visited. She was really positive and deeply cares about the service.”

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

Staff said that they felt able to share their views and raise any concerns they may have. 1 staff member told us, “I feel comfortable to report concerns, if I feel something is not right with a resident or a staff member, immediately will inform to my manager to investigate.” While another said, “If I have any problems I can always speak with [manager] and she will listen and sort them out.”

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.

Hill barn had a diverse workforce and all the staff we spoke with told us they felt valued, respected and well supported by the manager.

Staff received training in equality and diversity. This meant staff had an understanding about discrimination and anti-discriminatory practice.

The provider did not always have clear responsibilities, roles, or good governance.

We found that systems were in place to monitor the service, audits were completed on a regular basis; however, they had not always identified areas of concern that was found during the inspection process.

We found concerns relating to mental capacity assessments and consent.

Improvements were required in governance of the service to ensure it was robust and effective in day-to-day quality assurance. Audit processes needed strengthening to help the management team identify required problems and the actions required. We looked at a range of audits, and these did not always identify our findings during this inspection.

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.

We saw evidence of partnership working with a wide variety of health care partners including GP's and SALT team.

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.

Although not all audits were effective, where they were effective and concerns or issues had been identified, actions had been taken to improve.

Evidence was seen that lessons had been shared across all of the homes in the group.

The service was responsive to address the concerns that were found during the inspection. Some concerns were investigated swiftly and rectified immediately. For other concerns additional or strengthened auditing processes have been prepared and will be implemented.

Upon feedback from staff regarding staffing levels, the provider re-checked the dependency levels and although it showed suitable staffing levels were in place, they introduced an additional staff member to the afternoon shift to support staff.