Hatzfeld House

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 changed to outstanding. This meant service leadership was exceptional and distinctive. Leaders and the culture they created drove and improved high-quality, person-centred care.

This service scored 89 (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 very clear shared vision, strategy and culture. This was based on transparency, equity, equality and human rights, diversity and inclusion, engagement, and an exceptional understanding of the challenges and the needs of people and their communities.

Staff and leaders worked in collaboration to form an exceptional partnership to sustain and promote the philosophy of care of the service. The philosophy of care included eight care commitments which ensured people were treated with the utmost dignity and respect, people’s care was highly person-centred, and people’s independence promoted. This ensured people received individual tailored support, which promoted people’s wellbeing and personal fulfilment.

The culture of the service extended, not only to staff, leaders and healthcare professionals, but to the wider local community, with strong links with local services to promote people’s inclusion and belonging. One healthcare professional told us, “I can say hands down it is by far the best placement and provider of care I work with; the staff are incredible and make the care and treatment of residents top priority.”

The registered manager was dedicated to ensuring people felt included and every opportunity was taken to meet people’s holistic care needs in line with the philosophy and values of the service. People flourished in a warm relaxing environment which supported peoples emotional and physical wellbeing. For example, we saw a courtyard area had been created to encourage inclusion, social interaction and autonomy, whilst keeping people safe. Several initiatives were in place to promote the shared vision and culture. For example, the Veteran Friendly Home initiative, which promoted the Veteran Friendly Framework where the service were committed to upholding the Armed Forces community by recognising the contribution people gave. This was promoted within the service by giving people who served specific employment support, engagement with local community and being part of promoting events. For example, Remembrance and VE day. The principles of these initiatives and accreditation were embedded into practice and formed part of the culture of the Home to focus on enabling people to live enjoyable and meaningful lives.

The provider had exceptionally 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 always did so with integrity, openness and honesty.

Leaders were described as being exceptionally supportive to staff and visible in the service. Comments from staff included, “The manager is friendly and listens. Communication is very open, and we can talk to them anytime, even at night” and “I am absolutely supported by management, If I ever have questions, or need support to make sure I am doing everything right, they always give it to me and feedback is constructive”.

Relatives told us the registered manager was always accessible and the service as well managed, relatives and staff comments included, “[Manager] is lovely. The home is well managed”, “[Manager] is wonderful”, “I am very pleased with the home, and the main thing is [person] is happy”, “The home is well managed, and they always stop and talk to you”, and “All management are lovely, very approachable. I was a bit nervous coming here, it's more like a family here than coming to work. “

There was an open culture within the home, we observed leaders to be open, positive, compassionate and friendly and this was reflected in the care that was delivered by staff, demonstrating exceptional leadership in line with the values and care philosophy of the service.

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

Staff told us they felt confident to raise any concerns if they had any, they were also confident concerns would be addressed promptly. Staff understood how to escalate concerns further if this was required. Comments from staff included, “I would report it straight away and there are concerns forms everywhere to remind us. They always report safeguarding's here; we are open and honest”, “I would report to the senior and management.”, “If I have any concerns, I speak to the team leaders” and “Never seen any concerns but we would report something, and the manager would take action.”

We saw posters displayed through the service on how to raise a concern including details of external organisations to report to, whistleblowing and safeguarding information was displayed on the manager’s office door. Easy read safeguarding information was available to empower people to have the freedom to speak up; this provided information on how to raise concerns directly with external organisations.

The provider strongly valued diversity in their workforce. They had an inclusive and fair culture which had improved equality and equity for people who worked for them.

Staff felt they were strongly valued and supported by leaders and colleagues. In depth training courses was given to staff and equal access and specific support was given to ensure people were skilled in their roles. Comments from staff included, “There is online training and some face to, we are always promoted to do more training, I requested extra MCA training, and it was sourced for me for beginning of November”, “I do feel supported from all staff. I have some health issues and Jess and the staff team are very supportive” and “Love it here, I like it how I am supported to get further, started as support worker and worked to being the team leader.” Staff were treated fairly, and flexible working arrangements were in situ for staff. One staff member told us, “They have been so supportive and done risk assessment to allow me to work, whatever I needed help on they were there straight away”.

The provider promoted an inclusive environment through several workforce initiatives and incentives, for example staff ‘fuddles’, staff online quizzes and wellness walks: these opportunities evidenced the provider was deeply invested in the wellbeing of the workforce.

The provider had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance. They used these to manage and deliver high-quality, sustainable care, treatment and support. They always acted on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, and shared this securely with others when appropriate.

Leaders took pride in demonstrating an exceptional level of accountability and had an in-depth knowledge of their roles and responsibilities. External stakeholders, for example CQC and the local authority were kept up to date with any events or concerns that affected people’s wellbeing, and actions were always taken to ensure people were safe and well. Comments from healthcare professionals included, “They will always inform me if there have been any issues and ask advice if needed” and “The staff and the management team work extremely well and very closely with me and will be in regular contact should there be a need”.

The registered manager had continuous robust oversight of governance in the home, extensive internal audits were completed regularly, which always included review and actions. For example, a quarterly review of DOLS authorisations to ensure people were cared for in the least restrictive way and maintenance audits which were completed by maintenance staff were also audited by the registered manager to ensure actions were completed and audits were effective. All staff were part of meetings to discuss people’s outcomes and how best to support people, information was shared on a tailored electronic care app to ensure all staff were aware of any changes. This app was tailored in-house by IT staff to ensure alerts were read and signed before a staff member could access the main menu; this ensured an enhanced and effective communication between staff teams to help achieve people’s best outcomes.

The provider ensured detailed contingency plans were in place for emergency situations, and these were reviewed regularly.

We were fully assured that staff strongly understood their roles and responsibilities and management were accountable for their overall performance and behaviours; we observed care practice to be very skilled and compassionate.

The governance framework in place was consistent, embedded in practice and highly effective to deliver care of the highest quality, promoting people’s safety and overall physical and emotional wellbeing maintaining outstanding outcomes for people.

The provider clearly understood and carried out their duty to collaborate and worked in partnership, and services worked seamlessly for people. They always shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement.

The provider held partnerships with external professionals and valued sharing good proactive and learning to improve people’s’ outcomes. Healthcare professionals told us the registered manager worked closely with organisations to seek the best support for people and exceptional professional relationships were in place. One healthcare professional told us, “The service are very responsive to people’s needs and as previously stated will always go above and beyond for each resident they care for.”

The provider had committed to specific schemes to promote learning and support, for example staff were offered a counselling scheme to support staff with their overall wellbeing and oral health smiling matters scheme to promote people’s oral health.

There were strong links to the community, and the registered manager ensured people were fully integrated into the local community and people helped foster unique networks to live fulfilled health lives. For example, regular fundraising for multiple charities, raffles supported by local businesses and strong links with the local library and local church.

The provider had a strong focus on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. They always encouraged creative ways of delivering equality of experience, outcome and quality of life for people. They actively contributed to safe, effective practice and research.

Leaders and staff demonstrated an exceptional level of commitment to learning innovation and improvement focusing on a compassionate person-centred approach to ensure people received the best possible outcomes. The registered manager was consistently focused on improvements through detailed auditing and reviews of people’s care. For example, the registered manager completed an analysis of people’s distress to fully understand people’s need. One person’s experienced distressed during mealtimes. Following analysis and observations, the team realised the person wanted to put their own plate away in the sink after their meal; this person was then supported to do so, and their distress was minimised.

Staff had a strong proactive approach to learning and innovation, one staff member told us, “We discuss new people’s needs …. it’s about different approaches for different people.”

The provider demonstrated an excellent approach to continuous improvement. The dining experience for people promoted independence and inclusion by adopting a ‘canteen style’ layout which enabled people to walk up to a hatch and express their preferences and be served their meal. Staff were actively involved in making improvements to the service one staff member told us, “If something isn't working, we can suggest an idea to try and we test if it works then we discuss.” Regular staff meeting and discussions took place to discuss improvements and innovations.

Technology had been used to improve people outcomes. The care app used for all care records and staff communication was tailored in house to promote effective communication. This ensured staff had the most up to date information to people’s care needs. The app continues to be tailored to improve and innovate care records to ensure records are accurate and effective in line with people’s needs.

The recruitment process was recently strengthened by involving people to be part of the interview process, one person told us, “I ask questions for interviewing people to join the care home, and I enjoy it.” This helped the right people were recruited to support people in line with the values and philosophy of the service and promoted people to be at the heart of the process.