Brooklands Nursing 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. At our last assessment we rated this key question requires improvement. At this assessment the rating has changed to 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 71 (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 service had clearly defined values centred on dignity, independence, person-centred care, improvement and learning. These values were promoted through staff training, team meetings, supervisions and one-to-one discussions. The registered manager explained that embedding these values in day-to-day practice helped ensure staff understood the standards expected of them and the culture the service aimed to maintain.

Staff demonstrated a good awareness of the service's vision and values and were able to describe how these influenced their work. One member of staff told us, “Our focus is on providing person-centred, compassionate and safe care while promoting dignity, independence and respect for all residents.” Staff were able to explain what the values meant in practice. One member of staff told us, “The values are dignity, independence, care, improvement and training. For me, dignity means treating residents with respect. Independence means encouraging people to do what they can for themselves, while care means providing the support they need. We work on these values every day to make residents' days a little brighter and happier.”

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. Staff spoke positively about the leadership within the service and described the registered manager as approachable, supportive and fair. They told us they felt comfortable raising concerns, asking questions and contributing their views. Staff felt listened to and valued, and said the registered manager acted on concerns raised. Feedback also highlighted the positive role played by the deputy managers, with staff describing the leadership team as committed to providing high-quality care and continually improving the service.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. People, relatives and staff told us they felt able to raise concerns and were confident they would be listened to. The registered manager promoted an open culture and provided a range of opportunities for feedback, including supervisions, one-to-one discussions and regular meetings. The registered manager operated an open-door policy and was accessible to people throughout the week. In addition, specific times were advertised when the registered manager would be available, providing reassurance that people, relatives and staff could meet with them to discuss matters important to them.

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 registered manager demonstrated a good understanding of the Equality Act and the importance of promoting equality, diversity and inclusion. The provider employed a diverse staff team with a range of ethnic backgrounds and genders and promoted an inclusive culture where people and staff were treated fairly and with respect. The service promoted learning and awareness in this area and took opportunities to celebrate different cultures and important religious and cultural events. These were shared with people living at the service, helping to promote inclusion, understanding and respect for diversity within the home.

The provider acted on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, and shared this securely with others when appropriate. The provider did not always have clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability or good governance.

The registered manager's audits were comprehensive and, in several instances, they were able to demonstrate that issues identified during our inspection had already been recognised. This showed there were systems in place to identify concerns and drive improvement. Where actions had been identified, these had been shared with staff and incorporated into action plans. While some actions had not been completed at the time of our inspection, the agreed completion dates had not yet been reached.

However, some auditing processes had not identified all issues. For example, medicines audits had not identified that medicine stock counts were being completed inconsistently. In addition, although audits had checked that PRN protocols were in place, they had not assessed the quality and completeness of the information recorded within them. This meant opportunities to strengthen oversight and address issues sooner had been missed. After receiving this feedback, the registered manager assured us the would be looked into and appropriate changes implemented.

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.

The provider worked in partnership with external health and social care professionals, including GPs and the speech and language team, to support people’s health needs. Feedback from partner organisations was mixed; while some described the service as collaborative and joined-up, others felt working relationships could be improved.

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. They actively contributed to safe, effective practice and research. The registered manager explained how they worked proactively to identify areas for improvement and drive service development. The service had also sought external support and scrutiny to help identify opportunities to improve outcomes for people and strengthen practice.

Staff meetings were used for learning and development, encouraging staff not only to implement improvements but also to understand why changes were needed. The registered manager used scenarios based on possible events, such as unwitnessed falls, head injuries, sepsis red flags and missing persons, to develop staff knowledge, decision-making and communication skills.