The Old Vicarage 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 remained requires improvement.

The service was in breach of legal regulation in relation to good governance and record keeping.

This service scored 61 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The service 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.New staff received support and training which helped them to demonstrate the provider’s values in their daily work with people. A staff member commented, “I shadowed other staff for 3 days, when I started here.”

The service 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. There had not always been a positive culture, but since the manager had come into post staff told us there was improved team working and they felt supported by colleagues and management. The manager had made several improvements to the running of the service. People, relatives and staff were complimentary about the manager. Their comments included, “Teamwork is better”, “Staff morale has improved” and “The manager is very approachable.” However, we were informed after the inspection that the manager had left, and the provider had employed an interim manager from a consultancy to oversee the service until a new manager was recruited.

The service fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard.The provider had a clear whistle blowing policy. Staff could raise concerns, and written information was available of how to do this. Staff meetings took place, and staff had the opportunity to share comments and give feedback. Their comments included, “We have staff meetings, things get sorted” and “You can air your views at staff meetings.”

The service valued diversity in their workforce. They work towards an inclusive and fair culture by improving equality and equity for people who work for them. Staff told us they were able to ask for reasonable adjustments to be made to their working patterns for specific needs, for example to incorporate family commitments.

Staff and leaders knew their responsibilities around quality and safety monitoring and governance. Audits and checks were carried out in the main areas of the service, such as, around care records, health and safety and staff practice. The manager and senior staff could explain governance systems in the service and their individual responsibilities. However, there were areas in need of improvement identified at inspection as described throughout the report. The manager and provider made some immediate changes as a result of our feedback, however the improvements needed to become embedded and sustained.

Staff at the service understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, so services work seamlessly for people. They shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement. The provider encouraged and initiated work with local community projects such as music and gardening to bring people from the community to visit The Old Vicarage, to benefit both.

The service 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 contribute to safe, effective practice and research. There was evidence of changes that had been made to the service to make improvements and to address checks and audits outcomes and in response to people and staff feedback. The manager and provider were responsive as stated and made some immediate changes as a result of our feedback, but these needed to be sustained.