Dimensions Somerset Spring View

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 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 management and staff team 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. This shared direction ensured each person was at the centre of their support when decisions about their lives were being made.

The provider had a clear strategy covering the period 2025 to 2027. This was called “Better Lives for More People.” This described the provider’s mission; “To provide high quality personalised support for people with learning disabilities and autistic people, helping them to be actively engaged with, and contribute to, their communities”. This included providing alternative models of support, improving the health and wellbeing of people, developing and broadening workforce skills and being recognised as a great place to work.

Relatives were generally happy with the care their family member received. One relative said, “I’m more than happy with [name’s] care.”

All staff spoken with told us they were proud of the quality of care and support they provided. Everything they did was to benefit people living at the home. People were supported to live fulfilled, ordinary lives as part of their community. One staff member said, “I would say it’s a very good standard of care, very person-centred. I would be more than happy for my relatives to live here. They would be safe and well cared for.”

The team at Spring View had just won the provider’s ‘outstanding contribution’ award in recognition of their excellent support for 1 person who lived at the home. The local area managers (including the registered manager of Spring View) also won the ‘spirit of discovery award’ in recognition of their excellent leadership.

Health and care professionals involved in people’s care praised the care provided by the staff team. One professional told us, “I have supported a client [at the home] and without doubt felt the care provided was of upmost excellence. I was able to observe other areas during my visit, and it seemed such a happy place to be."

The management team were all inclusive leaders who understood the context in which they delivered care, treatment and support and embodied the culture and values of their workforce and organisation. They had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively. They did so with integrity, openness and honesty.

A relative told us, “I know the manager very well and the deputy. I’ve known the assistant manager for years she worked where [name] lived before. Every time I visit I can have a chat. They [managers] are always happy to talk to me.” Another relative said, “She’s amazing’’, when asked about the registered manager.

Relatives and staff were complimentary about how the registered manager ran the service and the improvements they had made. Staff told us the registered manager was approachable, led by example and had significantly improved the home. They also told us the registered manager and assistant manager were both visible on a daily basis and very approachable. Staff told us they could share ideas or raise concerns with the management team. One staff member said, “Managers are really friendly and easy to approach. I can talk to them; they listen to me.”

The registered manager told us they had worked hard to improve the service, build a permanent staff team and create an open and honest culture. They said, “We are now in a much stronger position. I know that the service is not really where I want it to be. I would like the service to be perfect, and know that we are not there yet, but we have made lots of improvements.”

Staff had access to an ‘on-call manager’, available 24 hours a day. This provided extra support for staff, particularly if there was an emergency or if they needed advice or guidance.

The registered manager fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up, share any views they had and their voice would be heard.

People were asked for their views in a variety of formats throughout the year; this included meetings with their key teams. One person told us he attended a group organised by the provider so people in their services could give feedback on their experience. A relative said, “[The provider] is good. I was on a family group where I’d go to HQ and meet with them.” This meant people’s views were listened to and drove improvement.

There was a close relationship with people’s families. Some relatives told us they had less confidence in the service in recent years as there had been so many changes in the management and staff team and communication had suffered. One relative told us, “Communication had been poor [in the past], emails not responded to.” However, their confidence was returning under the home’s current registered manager. Another relative said, “It [communication] is nothing like it used to be [meaning it had improved]. Communication is good with the manager and I can always tell her how I feel.”

Any compliments about the home or staff were recorded. One relative had commented on how the service had improved. They said they, “Had the most wonderful experience when she came to pick up her [family member]. She got a good vibe from everyone and that it was like it used to be. She went away in tears yesterday (happy tears).” A health professional had said they, “Witnessed some lovely interactions and support between staff and [1 person] and that staff were very good at keeping [name] calm and engaged."

The management team valued diversity in their workforce. The registered manager ensured there was an inclusive and fair culture.

Through talking with people, relatives, staff and members of the management team, we found care and support was delivered in a non-discriminatory way and the rights of people with a protected characteristic were respected. Protected characteristics are a set of nine characteristics that are protected by law to prevent discrimination. For example, discrimination based on age, disability, race, religion or belief and sexuality.

The provider had policies and resources available for staff to help protect them from discrimination.

The provider had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance. They used these to manage and deliver good quality, sustainable care and support. They acted on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, and shared this securely with others when appropriate.

There were a series of checks in place to review the performance of the service. The registered manager, assistant manager and named staff members each had responsibility for specific checks such as safeguarding, accident and incident reviews, risk reviews, medicines, health checks and food hygiene checks.

The provider carried out a thorough annual internal quality review of the service. This included gaining people’s, relative’s and staff’s views of the service. Where improvements were needed, an action plan was developed. Improvements were ‘signed off’ when they had been completed.

There were regular monitoring visits from members of the provider’s senior management team or from its directors. These were a mixture of announced and unannounced visits. A report was completed following each visit where good practice and any areas for improvement could be noted and fed back to staff.

All of the quality assurance checks fed into the current action plan. This plan included finding a local hydrotherapy pool people could use, sourcing additional training for staff, redecorating parts of the home and improving the sensory room and the garden.

People received care and support in accordance with the principles of ‘Right care, right support, right culture’ guidance. People’s support plans and risk assessments were regularly reviewed and updated. Staff and the management team understood the importance of reporting any changes to people’s wellbeing. They kept detailed records of the support people had received. Staff ensured people’s care records were kept safe by following the principles of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The service 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.

Relatives, staff, and the registered manager shared with us positive examples of collaborative working in partnership. These included success stories where people had been supported to improve their health or health outcomes.

Professionals who supported people spoke highly of working in partnership with staff. One health professional said, “My experience of working with the team is that they listen, they work as a team, they're happy to ask questions, they're open to ideas, they're committed and they're really good at working together.” Another professional told us, “It was a pleasure to work alongside them [the staff team]. They really are true advocates for the clients at Spring View.”

There was a good working relationship with the local authority quality team. This team had audited the home in December 2024. Their report was very positive overall. This stated, “Staff were friendly and engaged. Staff were very complimentary of [the registered manager] and said that the changes she had made had all been positive. The clients appear happy and there were no concerns raised."

The management team focused on continuous learning and improvement across the organisation and local systems. They wanted good outcomes and a good quality of life for people. They had developed and improved the service and the quality of care and support people received. Discussions with the management team and staff demonstrated they recognised the importance of learning lessons and continuous improvement to ensure people received care and support that was person centred, safe and effective.

The management team used information from feedback, audits, complaints, incidents and safeguarding alerts to improve the service. Managers worked with staff to understand what happened if things went wrong and involved them in finding solutions to prevent recurrence.

The provider was motivated and responsive to our findings and acted immediately on key areas of improvement. For example, the provider’s quality assurance review carried out in February 2024 focused on the breach identified at our last inspection. The necessary improvements had been made.