Link House

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 inadequate. 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 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’s vision was to help people live life to the full. Staff understood the provider’s vision. They spoke about supporting people’s independence and helping them live meaningful lives. For example, by supporting them to maintain contact with families, interacting with the local community and engaging with hobbies. All these things supported people to live fulfilling lives.

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.

The new manager was well liked by people living at the home, their relatives and staff. All felt that they had driven improvements in the service, while being approachable and supportive. People felt they could speak with the manager about any concerns they had and were confident that action would be taken to resolve issues. One member of staff told us, “I am very positive about the manager, they have come in with lots of enthusiasm for a fresh look it’s been good.” Another member of staff told us, “I feel more confident since the new manager came. If they don’t know anything, they will look things up and find a solution. They are good.” Staff told us they also felt supported by the manager and how following an incident the manager had contacted staff to ensure they were okay.

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

The manager’s office door was open, and people were welcomed into the office whenever they wanted. People had been supported to raise concerns around their care needs. For example, one person had raised concerns about their personal space being respected. The manager had worked with this person to see how they could resolve the issue and had put a monitoring process in place so staff would know if their private space had been accessed.

People were open with us about their care and how they brought things to the manager’s attention if they needed something to change. We could see they were comfortable and had good relationships with staff which supported open and honest communication.

While staff and people were able and willing to raise concerns directly with the provider there was also a whistle blowing telephone line. This enabled staff to raise concerns anonymously if they did feel uncomfortable about speaking out.

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.

Staff told us they felt respected and supported. They said the provider was supportive of their responsibilities outside of work. For example, when relatives were sick. One member of staff told us how the provider had ensured their shifts were planned so they could attend hospital appointments with a relative.

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.

The systems in place to monitor the quality of care provided were effective in driving improvements in the home. There was a monthly overview audit completed by staff at the provider’s head office to ensure the manager was being effective. Where concerns were found action had been taken. The manager was responsive to concerns we found about medicines being taken out of the home. The immediately put systems in place to increase the monitoring of these medicines to ensure people’s safety.

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 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 provider had recently implemented electronic care records and medicines records. This innovation increased the safety of systems in the home, reduced errors and meant information was easy to access and monitor. We saw this was a big improvement from our last inspection.

The registered manager had a good understanding of how to drive improvements in the home and had done so since our last inspection. Their open and collaborative style meant people and staff understood why changes had happened and supported the changes as they improved their lives.

Staff told us about how they completed incident forms and had debriefs to discuss what happened. People were involved in discussions about incidents, so the manager and staff understood from their point of view what had happened. This helped them improve the care plans and understand where they could have taken a different action to stop people becoming distressed.