Portsdown View

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 did not provide a rating for the service. At this assessment, this key question has been rated 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.

The provider’s values of integrity, respect and excellence were embedded throughout the service and were reflected in the relationships staff built, the care they delivered and the way they interacted with people, relatives and each other. These values were evident in the day-to-day experiences of people living at the home.

A whole-home approach supported compassionate and person-centred care. All staff, including those working in non-care roles, understood their role in promoting people's wellbeing and knew people as individuals. A relative told us, “Everyone we come across from the laundry staff to the manager are wonderful.” Staff described a strong sense of pride in their work and were consistently positive about working at the service. They told us they enjoyed coming to work and valued the opportunity to make a difference to people's lives. One staff member told us, "It’s an amazing job here. Seeing the residents happy, when fulfilled and smiling, seeing them thrive is wonderful." This demonstrated staff were motivated by achieving positive outcomes for people and shared the provider's commitment to delivering excellent care.

People, relatives and visitors consistently described the exceptional culture within the home. Comments included: "It's lovely. It's always very friendly, everyone says hello to you. They're very approachable”, “It's just incredible, I'd like to move in. It's one big, huge family there. You don't always get that in some of the homes" and "I would wholeheartedly recommend anyone to use this service, it’s absolutely phenomenal."

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 at all levels were highly visible, inclusive and embodied the provider's values of integrity, respect and excellence. They had the skills, knowledge and credibility to lead effectively and consistently demonstrated openness, honesty and compassion. Their leadership created a positive, supportive culture where people, relatives and staff felt valued and listened to.

Leaders maintained a strong presence within the home and took deliberate steps to understand the experiences of both people and staff. Through the ‘A Day in the Life Of’ initiative, senior leaders worked alongside colleagues in roles including care, housekeeping and maintenance. Leaders told us this gave them a better understanding of any challenges staff may face and helped them identify opportunities to improve support and remove barriers. Staff valued this approach, with 1 telling us it made them feel understood, supported and recognised by senior leaders.

Feedback consistently reflected the strength of leadership throughout the service. One person told us, "Oh yes, I know who the (registered) manager is. She always comes and checks on me, she's really lovely." A relative said, "[Registered manager] glues the place together and makes it all happen in such a caring way. She's so wise and understanding. What matters is the person, totally person-centred. She's just incredible." A staff member told us, "[Registered manager] and [deputy manager] are empathetic and listen. I have every confidence in their leadership." A health professional also praised the leadership, saying, "There's good leadership. [Registered manager] may be busy but never comes across as that. Nothing is too much trouble. She looks after the staff and the home very well."

This demonstrated leaders had created a culture where staff felt supported to deliver high-quality, person-centred care, resulting in positive experiences and outcomes for people using the service.

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

The provider had developed an open and inclusive culture where staff felt able to speak up, share ideas and raise concerns. Staff told us the registered manager had an 'open door' approach, was approachable and would respond appropriately if concerns were raised.

The provider encouraged staff feedback through a range of methods, including quarterly listening events led by the Head of People and regular visits and informal drop-in sessions with senior leaders. An employee engagement platform provided additional opportunities for feedback through regular pulse surveys and an anonymous reporting route. Staff told us they felt able to raise concerns and were confident they would be listened to.

Leaders gave examples of improvements made in response to staff feedback, demonstrating that staff views were considered when developing the service. These included changes to handovers, improvements to snacks available for night staff and reducing paper use.

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.

Leaders recognised and celebrated the unique backgrounds, identities, cultures and abilities of their workforce, ensuring everyone had opportunities to contribute and progress. Staff told us they experienced exceptional support from leaders. One staff member described how leaders supported their transition into the role, helping them build confidence and develop professionally. They told us, “They (leaders) supported me every step of the way.” The staff member had received a recognised care award for best newcomer and said, “I couldn’t believe it, I was so happy, nothing like this has ever happened to me.” This demonstrated the provider’s commitment to recognising individual achievements and ensuring staff from all backgrounds felt valued and supported.

Leaders actively removed barriers and adapted support to meet individual needs. They told us staff who were neurodiverse were supported to access training, including having dedicated time with colleagues to work through e-learning together. Adjustments were also made to support staff with hearing loss, including changes to handover processes to ensure everyone could participate fully.

The provider celebrated diversity and inclusion across the service. Cultural events had taken place to recognise and celebrate the different backgrounds, identities and traditions of staff and people living at the home. During the recent World Cup, people and staff who wished to watch the matches came together to celebrate, with the chef preparing dishes inspired by the countries participating. This created opportunities for staff and people to share experiences, learn about different cultures and celebrate diversity together.

Staff consistently described feeling included and valued. Comments included: “There’s definitely no discrimination here; we all work as 1 team”, “They (leaders) do so much to value us, actually each and every one of us I think” and “I’m a lady of colour and I’ve always felt really included.” A professional external to the service told us of the good team work at Portsdown View and said, “The camaraderie is wonderful.” This demonstrated that equality, diversity and inclusion were embedded in the culture and experienced positively by staff.

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 provider had established a governance system to monitor and evaluate the quality of the care provided and to ensure compliance. Audits were in place and used to identify where areas of service provision needed to be improved. We found this had been largely successfully and compliance had mostly been achieved. However, there were some areas where we identified shortfalls with records. Despite this, we found that the areas we identified for improvement had not negatively impacted on people at the time of our inspection. Staff understood people’s needs well and people and their relatives told us they were happy with the care provided. When we discussed these shortfalls with leaders, they told us how they were in the process of strengthening the use of their digital care planning system and they either took quick and robust action to make the necessary improvements or told us of their plans to do so.

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 had developed exceptional relationships with partners, relatives and the wider community to achieve positive outcomes for people. External professionals spoke highly of the collaborative approach, describing staff as welcoming, knowledgeable and committed to sharing best practice. One professional told us, "I have been to one of their courses recently on mental health. I participated in an afternoon with them. That was just amazing. They go through so much training. It made us see it from a different angle and appreciate what they do in their jobs as well as what the clients are going through. Real eye opener." This demonstrated the provider’s commitment to learning, collaboration and improving understanding across services.

Relatives felt valued and actively involved in people's care. The provider recognised the importance of family relationships and ensured relatives were listened to, included and involved in decisions, supporting continuity and personalised care.

The service was highly connected with its local community and created opportunities for people to maintain relationships, pursue interests and experience meaningful engagement beyond the home. Partnerships and initiatives included intergenerational activities with children, a dementia-friendly fish and chip group, circle dance, lunch clubs, cognitive stimulation therapy, and a bereavement support group. These opportunities promoted connection, inclusion and wellbeing, ensuring people remained active and valued members of their community.

External professionals told us they were made to feel exceptionally welcome and valued as part of the team. One professional said, “It’s such a welcoming, lovely atmosphere. They are really good to us and always offer drinks. They even put a meal on for us once a year to thank us for our work.” Another described the training they were invited to as “brilliant” and “really informative”.

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.

Robust systems ensured leaders and staff remained up to date with current legislation, national guidance and emerging best practice through comprehensive training, regular professional updates and service-wide newsletters. Lessons learned from incidents, feedback and day-to-day practice were regularly monitored, analysed and used to drive improvements within the service. When we highlighted areas of improvement, such as records, leaders were open and engaging and demonstrated robust plans for improvement.

As detailed throughout this report, the provider developed a number of evidence-based initiatives to enhance outcomes, including their own dementia strategy and a Food First strategy. These approaches demonstrated how the provider used evidence and learning to develop practice, improve people's health and wellbeing, and deliver personalised support.

Leaders told us of their plans to continue with making improvements in the service and for those that lived there. Examples included: participating in the Veteran Friendly Framework and the national ‘Shut That Door’ campaign.