Goodson Lodge 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 remained 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 79 (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.

Information about the provider’s values was available on their website. Staff were informed what the values were during their induction and the values were embedded into practice through ongoing discussions at the service. The registered manager said, “We talk about them [values] all the time. The staff know our values, they know the vision and you see that in the way they work.” The service did many different satisfaction surveys with people to make sure they were satisfied with care delivery and how the service operated.

Staff received training on equality and diversity, and leaders ensured there were equal opportunities amongst the workforce. Staff told us they enjoyed their work and were “proud” to work at the service. One staff member said, “I love my work.”

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 an experienced registered manager in post who had been working for the organisation for a long period of time. They were supported by a regional manager and director who regularly visited the service. The registered manager had been nominated for an internal award in recognition of their service and commitment to care. The registered manager had also been invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace in recognition of their work in the care sector.

There was a leadership structure at the service which everyone was aware of, including a deputy manager and a head of dementia care. Feedback from staff about the management team was positive. One staff member told us, “Management are approachable and consistently supportive.”

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

The provider had a whistleblowing policy, and the procedure was shared with staff during their induction and ongoing training. Information on whistleblowing was available at the service for staff to access if needed.

The registered manager was aware of the duty of candour process and showed us examples of duty of candour letters written to people and relatives when care delivery had not gone as expected.

The provider strongly valued diversity in their workforce. They had an inclusive and fair culture which had improved equality and equity for people who worked for them.

The registered manager told us they valued the workforce and had taken action to make sure staff from overseas felt welcome at the service. For example, there had been cultural days which celebrated different cultures. This included staff dressing in national costume and sharing information about their cultures. For Black History Month staff had shared information with people and other staff about their culture. There had been a world cuisine festival to celebrate food from around the world. This was a tasting event for everyone to take part in. One staff member told us, “Goodson Lodge has a very positive and supportive culture, where equality, diversity and inclusion is genuinely valued.”

If needed the service supported staff with reasonable adjustments. This helped staff to stay at work with various levels of support. For example, colour coded staff rotas had been provided, technology to support staff with their visual impairment and 1-1 support to complete work-based qualifications.

To support staff with their own knowledge and awareness the service had organised for a GP to visit the service and complete a learning session on neurodiversity. This information sharing session helped staff understand the individual needs of other staff and ways to support individuals. One staff member said, “The culture is the support, everyone is aware of who is what and the team are accepting and supportive of each other.”

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 were various audits being completed across the service which monitored quality and safety. The registered manager said they encouraged all staff to get involved in quality and safety checks. For example, senior care staff completed care plan audits, housekeeping staff checked infection prevention and control on a monthly basis, and the administrator undertook kitchen audits.

The provider’s central office support teams also visited regularly and completed various checks. For example, the regional manager visited at least monthly, the catering manager completed unannounced visits to check the kitchen and the provider’s quality team also carried out annual full quality reviews. Any actions identified were added to the service improvement plan which was reviewed regularly to make sure actions were completed in a timely way.

Prior to our inspection the local authority had visited and completed their review of quality, the registered manager said this review had not identified any actions.

Whilst there were regular checks on quality and safety we did find some shortfalls during our inspection. For example, some monitoring records had gaps in recording, and some medicines records lacked details. The registered manager was very responsive and acted during our inspection to address shortfalls we shared with them.

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 service worked closely with a range of local organisations to support positive outcomes for people living in the service and within the wider community. Staff told us people benefited from regular visits by local groups, including schools and community clubs, which offered entertainment and engaging activities. They also said the service played an active role in the community. For example, members of the knitting club made gloves, scarves, and hats that were donated to a local community organisation, helping to strengthen community connections.

The registered manager said, “The community work we do here is excellent, we have amazing community links, and we are well known in the local community.” Various events had been held at the service which were open to friends, families and people living locally. For example, the service had held a 3-day festival with different music, entertainment, food and activities. The registered manager said, “Residents loved it, families loved it, we put a video out which went viral. We had security on the door, people had fun. That experience stays with them.”

Feedback from professionals we contacted was very positive about the service, the staff and the care delivered. One professional told us, ‘Management have always been supportive and accessible. I have found the management team open to communication and willing to work collaboratively with visiting healthcare professionals in the best interests of residents. Overall based on my regular contact with the service, I believe residents at Goodson Lodge receive good quality, safe and person-centred care. The service appears well run, with a positive working culture and strong professional standards.’

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.

Leaders and staff were open to learning from various sources. The registered manager said, “We are exploring what more can we do, we are open to change, looking at different ways of working.” Learning was shared across all the provider’s services and managers met regularly to share ideas and learn from each other’s experiences.

The registered manager told us about many different pieces of work they had planned to improve areas such as staff knowledge and training, use of virtual reality to improve outcomes for people and technology for monitoring health outcomes.