Garden Hill 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.

At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has changed to requires improvement.This meant the management and leadership was inconsistent. Leaders and the culture they created did not always support the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care.

The service was in breach of legal regulation in relation to governance arrangements.

This service scored 61 (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 gone through recent management changes and was still in a period of transition and adjusting to the changes being made. Senior leaders were aware of the challenges and were confident the culture could improve through continued engagement, transparency and a focus on people’s needs.

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. The registered manager was supported by senior management after recently starting the role and while the provider had identified areas for improvement in the culture of the service, further work was needed to strengthen oversight and ensure improvements were embedded. The provider and registered manager were responsive throughout the assessment and were passionate about the service they offered to people and described the service, staff and people as ‘a family’.

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

Staff said it was easy to speak up and raise any concerns with the management team. They felt listened to and supported.

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.

Management worked to ensure equality and diversity for staff by making policies, support systems and opportunities accessible to everyone. Staff raised no concerns about discrimination in the workplace.

The provider had clear responsibilities, roles and systems of accountability in place. However, general oversight needed to improve to ensure governance systems were effective in practice.

Audits were not always completed in line with the provider’s processes, and actions identified through audits were not always completed in a timely way. This meant the provider could not always be assured that risks, performance issues and required improvements were being consistently identified, monitored and addressed. The manager was aware of these shortfalls and was working to make improvements.

The provider did not always understand or fully meet their duty to collaborate and work in partnership to support seamless care for people.

Information and learning were not always shared with partners in a timely or consistent way. The provider needed to strengthen partnership and community working by improving routine communication, information sharing and joint learning with partner agencies.

Statutory notifications to the Care Quality Commission had not always been submitted as required, evidence to support notifications was only submitted after we requested them during the assessment. We discussed this with the registered manager, who confirmed they understood the need to ensure notifications and relevant updates were shared promptly with CQC and other partner agencies.

The provider focused on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. They were proactive in using innovation to support quality and oversight, including implementing Artificial intelligence (AI) technology linked to their electronic care records system. Although in its infancy this technology was designed to identify anomalies in people’s care records and flag potential changes in risk, such as weight loss, so staff and leaders could respond more quickly.

There was a strong focus on learning and improvement within the home. Leaders were open to feedback during the inspection and demonstrated a willingness to engage with ongoing improvement and development.

Staff were involved in meetings and QA sessions covering a range of topics, such as mental health and clinical policies. This gave staff opportunities to ask questions, share views and contribute to improvement. These arrangements supported the sustainability of the service and the provider’s ability to continue to improve.