Treetops Residential 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. This is the first assessment for this newly registered service. This key question has been rated Good. This meant the service was consistently managed and well-led. Leaders and the culture they created promoted high-quality, person-centred care. There was clear culture promoted within the service which staff understood. Staff were supported to learn and develop their skills. There was a clear governance structure within the service and staff understood their roles. Staff were encouraged to speak up and make suggestions or raise concerns. The service worked with local partners, including the local community and professionals.

This service scored 79 (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 and staff were clear about the direction of the service which was to improve people’s life and make them as fulfilled as possible. The provider told us, “Staff feel we care and are invested in the journey with us.” We were shown photographs of staff working with the provider to decorate the lounge at night to reduce the impact of people. The values of the service were clearly displayed, and people had been involved in making the display which included, ‘person centred’, ‘individual’, ‘promoting independence’ and ‘home from home’. These values were apparent throughout the service and staff. The provider told us they were clear about the standards they expected, providing support and guidance when staff had failed to meet the standard.

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 had recently left the service, however, there was a clear support plan in place for the deputy manager. They were being supported by the registered manager from the provider’s other service and a consultant. There was a development plan in place for the deputy manager to complete the appropriate training to make sure they have the skills and confidence to step into role of registered manager. The provider spent at least 2 days a week at the service and were always contactable by phone. When staff expressed a desire to develop their roles, they had been supported by the provider. For example, kitchen assistant had been supported to develop their skills and was now employed as a cook. Staff told us they worked as a team and the providers were supportive.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. There were policies in place to encourage and support staff to speak up. The provider had worked to have a relaxed and informal relationship with staff to help them feel comfortable to speak up. Staff were encouraged to speak to the provider or deputy manager by phone or in person. There were processes in place to discuss and agree plans and actions, so everyone’s views are understood and identify if there are concerns or issues. Staff were reminded in staff meetings it was important to speak up and not to be anxious to raise concerns. The provider emphasised when whistle blowing concerns had been received, staff should not be worried about who had raised the concern but to concentrate on the action required to address the issue.

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. There were policies and procedures in place to support equality and diversity. Staff had received training and knew how to recognise discrimination within the workforce. Staff told us they were all treated equally and were not discriminated against. They gave the example of Christmas and how all staff were involved in planning who would work and when. The shifts had been shared out equally, so everyone had the opportunity to spend time with their family.

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. Staff understood their role and responsibilities within the service and there was a clear management structure in place. Staff who managed departments had budgets to work within and they were able to purchase what they needed to ensure people were safe and well cared for. The provider had oversight of the quality of the service. An external consultant completed monthly audits of all areas of care and medicines to give the provider an unbiased view of the quality of the service. Following the audits, the provider developed actions plans with dates for actions to be achieved and these plans were reviewed each month. Regular checks had been completed on the environment and equipment by the maintenance staff. The provider completed checks on the recruitment processes. Areas such as medicines had weekly audits completed by the deputy manager to identify errors quickly.

The provider clearly understood and carried out their duty to collaborate and worked in partnership, and services worked seamlessly for people. The provider has sponsored a local youth football team, and they have visited the service to give people a demonstration of what they can do. There were lots of pictures of people with the squad having fun. The provider was working with a local art school to improve people’s inclusion in local art projects. They planned to explore ways children and people could do art projects together to display at the service and in the wider community. People had taken part in a power of women project and their work had been displayed in the been displayed at a large local gallery. People had visited the gallery to see their work. Children from a local school had also visited to read with the people. People, especially those who had worked in education, had really enjoyed being able to use their skills and help the children. Plans were being put in place to take part in the next ‘world book day’.

People had been involved in a ‘winter blanket’ project for a local church. Some people had done some knitting, other people had donated yarn and were very pleased they had been able to help others. People also helped to make up toiletry bags for others less fortunate for themselves and had donated these to a local church. The provider had plans in place to replace the dining chairs at the service and the old chairs were being donated to a local church community centre for this café.

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. The provider had developed a long term plan for the service and their other service to streamline the governance of both. This change would make it easier and more efficient for the provider and managers of the services. There had been environmental improvements to the service, an additional toilet had been installed on the top floor to reduce the distance people had to walk during the night. The environment was gradually being decorated to be more dementia friendly, the toilet doors were now painted yellow. The provider was taking their time, so people were not overwhelmed with all the changes at once. Equipment, such as hospital style beds were being purchased, to assist people with sitting up or getting in and out of bed, these changes would support people as their needs changed. The technology within the service was being updated, new router connections had been installed, to make sure there was a strong network connection in all areas of the staff to assist both staff and people.