Miller House Care 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. 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 a Statement of Purpose which set out the vision of the service and its core principles of privacy, dignity, independence, choice, rights and fulfilment.

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.

There was competent leadership of the service. The registered manager currently had the extra responsibility of being the provider’s regional operations manager. In addition to the registered manager, the service also had a home manager, and it was planned for them to take over the position of registered manager in the near future. Both the registered manager and home manager were qualified nurses. Relatives told us they had confidence in the management team. One person said, “They are really good – hands on.” A visiting health professional commented, “[The manager] takes a very hands-on approach with her residents and appears genuinelyinterested in the general well-being of the residents. She appears to be able to reassure and calm her residents when they start to become challenging.” During our visit we saw managers engaging positively with people in a kind and caring manner, demonstrating a compassionate approach and an open and inclusive culture within the service.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. The service had an up-to-date whistleblowing policy. Staff demonstrated an understanding of whistleblowing and could explain what they would do if they needed to escalate concerns about poor practice.

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 home had an equality and diversity policy, and staff received training in this topic. The staff team at the home was diverse, and we found no evidence of bullying or discrimination. Staff told us they felt valued and respected by their colleagues and management team.

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.

There was effective oversight of the service. The provider had systems in place to monitor performance and drive improvement. Regular checks and audits were completed which reviewed key areas such as the environment, health and safety, care delivery and medicines management. These helped ensure standards were maintained and issues were identified and acted on quickly. In addition, the registered manager had good oversight of clinical issues affecting people, such as falls and nutritional risks and these were discussed regularly in a clinical risk meeting.

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 a range of stakeholders within the local community, including health professionals and the local authority, to support people’s care and wellbeing.

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.

There were effective systems in place to learn from accidents and incidents, safeguarding concerns, complaints and situations where things had not gone as planned. Learning from these events was shared with staff through meetings and supervision. This approach helped promote improvement across the service.

The service had gone through a period of instability prior to our assessment and had required support and guidance from the local authority to implement changes and make improvements. These continued to be embedded in practice.