Northfield Care Centre

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.

This service scored 75 (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 had put time and effort into sharing and discussing their vision for the service and the quality of care. The management team created a positive, supportive and caring culture in the care home.

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. Both the provider and the management team were supportive of people who lived in the care home, the staff and each other. Their focus was on the provision of good quality care and support. The management team had the skills to lead effectively and they recognised where improvements needed to be made and took immediate action, when necessary, to mitigate risk and embed learning.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. Members of staff had access to an ‘app’ which could be used to submit confidential and anonymous whistle-blowing and safeguarding concerns without fear of reprisal. This enabled them to raise concerns, discuss actions and agree conclusions whilst retaining their anonymity.

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. The workforce was well supported by the provider. There was commitment from the provider to pay the living wage to staff rather than the minimum wage.

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 and management team were clear about their roles and they understood quality performance, risks and regulatory requirements. However, during our inspection we found a small number of accidents, incidents and safeguarding concerns which had been reported to the Local Authority but should also have been reported to the CQC. The management team reported them to the CQC retrospectively. Systems had not identified some areas where notifications had not been made and this was acknowledged by the provider. A review and analysis of the notification process identified lessons learned which were implemented immediately and learning was shared across the organisation. This mitigated on-going risk.

The provider understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, so services worked seamlessly for people. They shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement. There were good links with the local community and information about the care home was shared locally to help improve outcomes for people and promote community engagement.

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. The provider had invested in the rollout of a falls prevention smart light system which, according to research shown to us by the provider, can prevent 4 out of 5 falls. They had also invested in a moisture sensor mat which alerted staff if someone had been incontinent. The provider had invested in this technology to prevent falls and support people to have better quality sleep, promote dignity and reduce the need for disturbing people at night-time. The provider had also partnered with the local NHS team to pilot decaffeinated drinks. This was inspired by research carried out by Care England in November 2023 where, following the implementation of decaffeinated hot drinks as the default option, toileting-related falls decreased by 34.72%. Feedback from people involved in the research was generally very positive, with most of those participating not noticing a significant difference in the taste of the caffeine-free drinks. The provider told us they would continue with this initiative in the care home but would continue to offer caffeinated drinks to people who did not wish to participate. They were committed to providing research data to the NHS as part of this trial.