Park Lodge 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.

People were receiving a service that was well led.

This service scored 71 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

A staff member told us the aim of our service was to offer people good comfortable person-centred care without any discrimination. They said, “We care for people according to their needs. We have a well-established staff team and manager, some staff have been here for many years, so we are all familiar with people and their care needs. The manager is good, very experienced, she puts other people’s needs before her own.” Another staff member said they liked working with people using the service and their colleagues. They said teamwork was very good.

Comments from people using the service and relatives included, “The staff keep the resident’s content,”, The staff provide individualised care,”, “The staff make this a safe and pleasant place to be,” and “It’s very homely.” A visiting health care professional told us, “I would come here myself when I’m older.”

Regular staff meetings took place to support and guide staff with best practice. Staff told us they were able to express their views at these meetings, and they felt they were listened to. One staff member told us, “The team meetings are good. We bring ideas and share good practice.” Some staff reported feeling undervalued and not listened to or appreciated. The service had undergone changes, and some staff felt that they were not properly consulted about these changes. We brought this to the attention of the registered manager and provider. The registered manager told us they held a staff meeting following our visit where staff were invited to openly share their opinions on the recent changes and to provide suggestions for enhancement. They planned for a staff survey, and the launch of a “Team Star of the Month” initiative to acknowledge positive contributions staff were making.

There were capable and inclusive leaders. The registered manager had managed the service for 10 years. They told us senior managers visited regularly to provide them with 1-1 support and to help them to improve the quality of care at the service. The registered manager was knowledgeable about their responsibilities regarding the Health and Social Care Act 2014. They were aware of the types of significant events which they were required to notify CQC about and records showed the service had submitted notifications to CQC where needed.

There is management structure in place. Staff told us there was a 24 hour on-call number where they could contact managers if they need any advice or support. A staff member told us, “Management support is always available for us when we need it.” Staff were positive about how the home was run and about the support they received from the registered manager. One staff member told us, “We have a good manager, if we have problem, she always supports us.” Another staff member said, “The registered manager is approachable and is always willing to listen to staff and help them.”

We saw the action plan from a staff survey. This included actions where feedback was less positive. For example, a staff member said they did not always have enough equipment to help them carry out their duties. The registered manager obtained moving aids to help staff support people using the service easier.

A person using the service told us, “I always see the registered manager, I can talk to her when I want. Her office is right there so she can’t get away from us.” A relative commented, “The registered manager listens and bends over backwards to help.”

The provider supported staff to feel included and treated them with equity, taking account of their individual needs. The registered manager told us some staff members whose first language was not English were supported to attend an English school and staff were enabled to take time off for religious festivals and caring responsibilities when needed. The service held a staff appreciation day where managers cooked a meal for the staff team to show their appreciation.

The provider had systems for monitoring and improving the quality of the service. We saw a report from a visit carried out by the provider. The provider spoke with relatives and looked at areas such as staff training and supervision, complaints, safeguarding, infection control, they reviewed some care plans carried out a check on some people’s medicines. The report identified that all the areas looked at had been met. We saw a report from an unannounced night-time spot check carried out at the service in August 2025. The registered manager told us these checks were carried out to make sure staff were supporting people in line with their care needs.

Audits and checks were in place to oversee good service delivery and ensure people’s safety. These covered areas such as, medicines, health and safety, infection control, food hygiene, complaints, accidents and incidents and safeguarding concerns. Checks were also carried out on the environment, wheelchairs, walking aids and call bells. People’s care plans and risk assessments were also kept under regular review.

The registered manager showed us an action plan developed following the local authority commissioning team’s last quality assurance visit to the service.This indicated that all the recommendations made by the commissioning team had been met. The registered manager told us they had a good relationship with the local authority quality team. They said any advice they provided was always helpful.

The service worked in partnership with other organisations. These included the local authority’s commissioning teams, a local hospice, a GP practice, speech and language and occupational therapists, dietitians and district nurses. The registered manager told us they attended provider forums run by the local authority where they learned about and shared good practice. Issues discussed at a recent forum included a session facilitated by the local authorities falls team.

An officer from the local authority that commissions services from the provider told us staff at Park Lodge had shown commitment and collaboration, engaging with pilots and training. The manager regularly attended forums and reached out for support when needed.

Following the session the registered manager told us they were working with the falls team. Staff could call the falls team if someone had a fall or a slip, the team would attend the service and assess if the person needed support to get up or go to hospital. A health care professional from the GP practice told us people using the service were well cared for and the service was well organised. It is one of the best managed residential homes in Lewisham in terms of organisation.

There were systems for learning. These included regular training sessions for staff, team meetings and staff supervisions. The registered manager discussed learning from accidents, incidents and complaints with staff.