Kerwin Court

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 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 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.

The provider had established values that promoted an open culture and shared these values with the staff who had a good understanding of diversity and inclusion. One staff member said when describing a challenging time for the staff team, “We have our shared values up around the service and the management focus on them at every opportunity.” Another staff member said when speaking about the management, “The deputy manager works really hard and does a great job in general, they give the service a lot of their time and commitment.”

The provider had inclusive leaders 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 did so with integrity, openness and honesty.

At the time of the inspection the provider did not have a registered manager in place. However, the provider was in the process of recruiting a registered manager. The service was being supported by an established deputy manager as well as a regional manager and peripatetic manager. Staff, people and their relatives spoke positively about the leadership of the service and were aware a new registered manager had been recruited. One relative said when describing their experience, “They keep me informed and update me regularly." Describing their experience of the staff a person said, “The staff are so friendly.”

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

People had access to a complaints policy and procedure. People said they were able to speak up and their relatives were aware of how to make a complaint. One person said, “I can say if something isn't right, the staff are approachable and listen to me.” A relative told us, “I don’t have any concerns but if I did, I would tell them and know who to contact.” Staff told us that they could raise concerns and were confident around the process. One staff member said, “Yes I have no issue about raising concerns and am encouraged to do so.” Another staff member said, “We can make a change if we notice something isn't right or needs updating and it will be acted on.”

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.

The provider had recruited a culturally diverse team of staff and understood the benefits this brought. Staff told us, “We are from all over the world and the team consists of many different people with various strengths who share the same goal.”

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.

There was a robust system in place that ensured audits and reviews were being carried out consistently, with clear roles identified to fulfil these duties shared between leaders. The provider conducted regular and consistent audits which included health and safety, medication, infection control and care plans. Regular assessments of people’s needs were completed, with any changes reflected in peoples care plans. This allowed staff to fulfil their roles effectively, resulting in positive progress in people’s rehabilitation goals. The provider supported the management team with additional quality assurance checks, these checks showed a high level of compliance with the policies and procedures regarding governance. Staff understood their responsibilities and fed back to management and clinicians to improve support plans and risk assessments. One staff member said, “We can make a change if we notice something isn't right or needs updating the managers will listen and value our feedback.” The leaders had contingency plans in place to support people and staff in the event of various situations that would affect smooth running of the service which included actions to take in the event of a fire and how to respond during a power outage.

The provider understood the benefits of collaborating and working in partnership, so services worked seamlessly for people. Staff shared information and learning with partners and collaborated to enhance people’s care and support.

Staff worked closely with other services to provide consistent outcomes for people including the GP and described a variety of ways to access this. One staff member said, “If a person we support needs to see the Doctor, we can support them to make the call, but we can also use the electronic system to request an appointment, the Doctor also visits the service regularly.” Staff knew how to get health care for the people they were supporting when they needed it and described how they had worked with the district nursing team to support people’s continence issues.

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.

The provider was dedicated to ongoing research to improve people’s outcomes and to identify patterns and trends which could be shared across the organisation. Team meetings took place alongside staff supervisions, providing paths for feedback to be captured. During the inspection process we observed the service support a person who had experienced a challenging time in their life, the staff showed empathy towards the person and found ways to increase their wellbeing adding to their quality of life.