The Emilie Galloway Home of Rest

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.

The registered manager was very clear about the values of the home and was passionate about supporting people to be independent and involved within the community as much as possible. The registered manager stated, “I am the opposite of task based so promote against that.” They wanted to continue building links in the community to improve the various supporting healthcare services for people and hoped that this would be better in the future so a more consistent delivery of care could be sustained. They made considered choices on admissions to ensure the level of care could be met, and that the general atmosphere of the home would be maintained, with personalities being compatible for living in a communal environment. The challenges faced by people changing their lifestyle was recognised and acknowledged as a big adjustment. They tried to encourage people to embrace the move and offered reassurance that daily routines and pastimes would be continued and respected within the home. The care team operated with the same ethos, and it was clear that staff valued people and acted to support them accordingly with care and consideration.

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. Leaders had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively. They did so with integrity, openness and honesty.

The registered manager kept themselves informed with up-to-date requirements and ensured their own professional development was relevant to the current standards of care. They led by example and promoted their work ethic through the care team. They took pride in the support the home offered people and told us, “I do the training when I can, personalise my learning, and I research all the resident’s conditions, it develops me as a good manager.” There was a clear staff structure in place with seniors sharing some of the administrative tasks, which supported continuity through the home if the registered manager was off work for any period. The registered manager acknowledged their accountability in relation to the duty of candour and operated a transparent and honest approach to the role. Reporting of certain incidents and events was made in a timely manner, via the correct channels, as required by the responsibilities of the position. The registered manager confirmed they had a good relationship with the Trustees and told us, “The trust secretary is my rock” and appreciated the support they gave them, stating their input into the home was invaluable.

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

Staff were provided opportunities to speak up and give their views at supervisions, staff meetings and through staff feedback surveys. Results of this had been analysed and actioned, for example staff feedback had indicated staff felt training was repetitive, so a new training provider had been sourced and a new online training programme implemented. The registered manager promoted honesty and transparency within the home, and their open-door policy supported this, giving opportunity for staff to speak with them when they wished or needed to. A whistleblowing policy was in place and staff spoken with said they understood the procedures to follow if speaking up and raising concerns. An on-call rota provided out of hours contact and support, with senior staff and the registered manager sharing this responsibility. The registered manager told us, “I can come in early at 6.30am so night staff are accessible to me

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 staff team at the time of inspection was predominantly female but the registered manager confirmed that they had previously had male care staff working at the home and had a mix of genders in other roles. The care team consisted of different nationalities and varied experience, and everyone we spoke with felt they were part of a team who worked well together. The registered manager ensured prospective new admissions were aware of the diverse workforce prior to arrival to minimise any possible prejudice. They completed ongoing reviews of policies and procedures to ensure equality for all employees. We saw that flexible working arrangements and reasonable adjustments had been made to support staff with health concerns who may require variations in their working day. All staff had training in equality and diversity to ensure they had a good understanding of the topic and how to demonstrate those values when at work. All staff whether full time or part time, and including all job roles, were given the same opportunities to speak up and share their views.

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 registered manager was aware of the responsibilities of the role and that they were accountable for actions and decisions within the home. Information was shared confidentially throughout the home via written records and emails, verbal meetings, and detailed handovers. Previous gaps in record keeping had been rectified with clear systems now in place for audits, risk assessments and care monitoring, and these were regularly reviewed. The registered manager had acted to improve systems and documentation where needed and they were considering changing to a digital care plan system in the future. At present nothing they had looked at gave the level of personalisation that the registered manager wished to maintain. Staff performance was well managed, with the registered manager telling us, “The benefit to a smaller team is that I see them often, notice the shifts in people.”Families and people’s next of kin were valued as ongoing support networks and encouraged to be involved in the home and their loved one’s care.

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.

The registered manager told us they had met with the senior partners at the GP surgery to try and improve current arrangements and discussed the desire for more collaborative working between partner services. People’s care plans evidenced that regular health checks with community services had been enabled, for example dentist and chiropodist visits. Staff were supportive to everyone, even those who were more independent, in ensuring any extra care and treatment could be accessed. One person told us, “They rang the doctors, next day a nurse came.” Information could be shared by the people themselves, or by the staff who supported them and this was always done in a secure and professional manner, with people’s best interests in mind.

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 registered manager was passionate about supporting those in the home to live their lives in the best way possible and worked to ensure continuous improvements to the care provided. They encouraged all staff with training opportunities and had introduced a new training provider in response to staff comments. This demonstrated they welcomed feedback and acted to address any concerns raised. They were actively involved in promoting and improving collaborative working with partner services to be able to deliver a more sustainable standard of care moving forward. They were committed to providing people with an environment that was homely yet enabled a level of care supported by community involvement, that ensured all needs were met and safely managed. The registered manager told us, “I fight for residents rights and question things.”