Weald Heights

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 service is dual registered, and this is the first assessment for this service under its new registration. 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 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.

Leadership worked with staff to promote a positive and inclusive culture at the home. Systems for staff feedback, provision of wellbeing and open communication contributed to positive staff practices. Feedback we received supported this. People and their relatives were asked for opinions and feedback through meetings and surveys, while confirming that leadership and staff were open and honest about the support being provided.

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 had exceptional understanding of staff and people’s needs, their past histories and oversight of their care experiences. This knowledge and approach were central to their methods of leading an inclusive and highly effective team. Leaders identified risks to peoples support and where the development and improvement of the home could enhance people’s experiences. They had excelled in getting to know people as individuals and working out how best to involve them and their relatives in their care and support. The approach to continuous improvement, compassionate dementia care was proactive and preventative through the introduction of technology and case studies and by ensuring a highly trained and motivated workforce was in place. One professional said, “I have always found the leadership to be exceptionally kind and caring towards their residents. It’s done with such compassion and attention to detail.”

The registered manager and leadership team were highly visible in their role, engaged with people consistently and with compassion and had exceptional understanding of their needs. We observed this throughout the inspection. These practices had been acknowledged through a series of nominations for care achievement awards including, amongst others, Care Home Manager of the Year award at the National Care Awards and in the Outstanding Dementia Care Team category at the National Dementia Care Awards.

There was a robust framework to ensure equal opportunities for access and benefit from these for all staff, especially those with protected characteristics. We have detailed this in the workforce wellbeing section of this report. One staff member said, “It’s my first time with (the provider) so I've got to say and I'm not just saying this; it really is the best.”

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

The provider fostered a culture with staff where they felt safe to raise issues, express any concerns and communicate effectively with the leadership. Systems and processes were in place to enable staff to raise concerns anonymously if they wished. Information and guidance for staff on how to whistle blow were available should they need them. Processes were in place for staff to relay their views on the home. Staff could access an employee engagement survey that allowed for feedback on their role and give opinions on how people were supported. Staff told us they felt confident to raise concerns with management.

Staff and leaders acted with honesty and transparency. People and their relatives told us that staff were open with them about their care and support. One person said, “They come and tell you everything, they are truthful. I am not afraid of the truth; I quite like that.” One relative told us, “The level of communication is excellent here. They will talk to us about every little thing.”

Leaders 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 provider had policies and procedures in place to create an inclusive environment that upheld the principles of equality and diversity. The provider was aware of their duty as an employer, to understand and respect people’s protected characteristics and prevent discrimination.

Leaders make reasonable adjustments to support disabled staff to carry out their roles well. The provider undertook risk assessments for staff with health considerations that might impact their work. The provider made appropriate workplace adjustments.

Staff were provided with mandatory training in equality, diversity and inclusion training. Staff spoke positively about the management team and voiced no concerns.

Leaders ensure there are effective and proactive ways to engage with and involve staff. Equality issues and values were discussed during staff interviews, probationary reviews, supervision and appraisals and staff meetings.

People at Weald Heights benefited from an exceptional leadership team who made people at the centre of the work they did. The provider had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance. The registered manager had a clear vision of the direction and standards they wished to see at the home and had implemented effective and robust quality assurance systems that led to the delivery of demonstrable improvements. For example, audits of dementia support, reviews of distressed behaviors and case studies, together with analysis of antipsychotic medicines had led to demonstrable improvements in the wellbeing of people with dementia and mental health conditions.

Leaders and managers drove an awareness of positive accountability, and shared responsibility with staff to ensure oversight of people’s care. Leaders used teams of senior staff, and Care Champions to oversee different areas of quality monitoring, this included areas such as Infection Control. This combined approach, alongside excellent communications systems, was used effectively by staff to give the provider an excellent oversight of the home.

People received excellent support and safe care in part due to comprehensive and robust quality assurance systems and audits. These systems not only identified if adjustments or changes were needed but sought to provide leadership with information to make further improvements. Audits were focussed on people’s experiences and demonstrated the leadership focus and values on providing person centred care, for example with dementia care; staff undertook reviews and case studies and analysis of trends for people’s distressed behaviours, audits of medicines that supported people’s anxieties and behaviours, dementia engagement and activities and enhancing mealtimes experience. PORT observations were undertaken. These were tools used to support staff reflection on the experiences of people at the home. These effectively helped staff identify what was working for people, what staff practices needed to adjust to support people in line with their needs.

There were robust systems for capturing data to provide quality information for relevant data. These requirements were consistently met. For example, analysis of risks to people’s nutrition and hydration and their skin integrity support, together with consistent use of clinically based tools and best practice, ensured that risks were monitored to a high standard. We saw evidence of detailed actions and positive outcomes taken as a result.

Leaders and staff strived for excellence through collaboration and shared practice. 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. One professional said, “Weald Heights is a lovely caring care home, seemingly very well led by managers I find dynamic and approachable.”

The home has a systematic approach to working with other organisations to improve care outcomes. This includes building and maintaining credible, safe and effective data sharing across the system, though the introduction and collaboration with of innovative technology or through working with accreditation partners to achieve high standards in care. For example, the home had achieved the Gold Standard Framework for provision of End of Life care.

Staff and leaders work in partnership with key organisations to support care provision and joined-up care. Staff worked closely with partners to support people with long term health conditions, such as specialist Parkinson’s nurses, heart failure and the Complex Care Nurses Team. There was strong collaboration with multi-disciplinary teams to undertake rounds of the home, while referrals and engagement had been made with Tissue viability nurses, Speech Language services, Mental Health Team, Hospice Care Team, Social Services, Continuing Care Team, Local Health Protection Team. Professionals told us how knowledgeable and dedicated they found staff to be. One professional told us, “This is an easy one, out of all the care homes that I visit, Weald Heights is my favourite. I have decided that if I ever need to bring my elderly mother into a care home near me, it will be to Weald Heights.”

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.

Discussions with leaders and staff demonstrated a drive and passion for continuous improvement and to seek collaborative ways to enhance people’s care and support. Leaders and staff developed complex case studies, using people’s life histories, clinical information and behavioural analysis to tailor personalised support for improved dementia care, activities and safety improvement. The provider had introduced Cognitive Stimulation Therapy to help people with dementia improve their memory and thinking skills, to enable them to cope better with memory loss. These helped to develop outstanding outcomes for people. The registered manager said, “We want to be a beacon in dementia care, and we are achieving that. We have gone a long way with what we have achieved. We don’t rest; we always want to do more. We always think outside the box; we don’t wait for people to tell us. We know what we want.”

Leaders, managers and staff strived for excellence through research, reflection, quality frameworks and accreditation schemes to enhance outcomes for people. These schemes are formal processes where external bodies assess and certify that a care provider meets specific standards, demonstrating a commitment to quality and continuous improvement. The home had achieved accreditation for the VIPS. VIPS is an accreditation model for dementia care. This quality framework concluded that the home was providing person centred, structured care for those living with dementia that sought to understand care from the perspective of the person. The staff team had also achieved accreditation for the Gold Standard Framework in Dementia care and accreditations status for the Veterans Friendly framework.

Leaders worked with partners to introduce and develop innovative technology to prevent risk and support people in their care and support. For example, a Sensor falls reduction system was introduced to monitor, prevent and drive improvements in falls support. Leaders worked to develop the system to provide personalised analysis of people’s environment to improve safety and wellbeing.