Heathercroft

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 requires improvement. At this assessment the rating has changed to good. This meant the service was now 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.

Staff were supported by managers to deliver consistently safe, person-centred, and inclusive care and support to people in line with the provider’s vision and values for the service. A staff member told us, “We have a great team spirit and culture here. Staff turnover is low and many of us have worked at the care home for years as a result of it being such an excellent place to work.” Systems and processes had been designed in line with this vision and focused on people and meeting their individual needs. The managers routinely used individual and group meetings to remind staff about the provider’s underlying core values and principles.

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 service continued to have an experienced and stable management team in place. The registered manager and deputy manager acted as ‘regional’ managers and were both responsible for overseeing 7 of the provider’s care homes located in and around London including, the care home next door. Heathercrofts senior team leader who worked exclusively at the care home was responsible for its day-to-day management. The management team had appropriate expertise, supported staff well and ensured care delivery met professional standards. Managers promoted inclusivity and openness, ensuring staff felt comfortable raising concerns or seeking advice. They emphasised that staff can “call us at any time,” reflecting a supportive leadership style that encouraged transparency and wellbeing. Staff confirmed this approach, noting they were always able to speak openly with management and share ideas. A staff member said, “The managers work well as a team, are always supportive and do actually listen and act upon what we have to say.” Relatives and external care professionals were equally complimentary about the leadership approach of the managers. They expressed confidence in the management team, describing consistent communication and saying that any issues were addressed quickly.

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

Managers promoted an open culture where anyone could report issues without fear and where concerns were acted on appropriately. People expressed feeling able to raise any concerns they might have and were confident their views would be taken seriously and acted upon. The team leader shared a good example with us about how adaptions were made to the rear garden in response to concerns raised by neighbours which resolved the issue to everyone’s satisfaction. The provider had supporting documents including, an accessible complaints and staff whistleblowing procedures, which set out clear expectations for how concerns should be reported and dealt with by the provider.

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

The provider supported staff fairly and promoted an inclusive working environment. Policies reflected equality and diversity principles, and managers ensured staff needs were understood and accommodated. Staff reported feeling valued and treated fairly. A staff member told us, “This is the best place I have ever worked. I feel valued and respected by all the managers and staff who work here.” Staff had opportunities for career progression, were offered flexible work options and had their diverse cultural and religious needs respected. Staff were also supported through relevant training and supervision to inform their knowledge and understanding of equality, inclusivity and fairness in the workplace. For example, the provider had established an internal Equality and Diversity group for staff to promote inclusion and conducted a cultural survey, so staff members’ views about workplace culture could be expressed. A sexual harassment policy had also recently been introduced, which all staff were required to read and attend training in.

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.

Improvements had been made to the way the provider operated their governance systems. Managers and the team leader were operating the providers established governance systems more effectively. Issues we had identified at their last assessment in relation to governance had been addressed and no new concerns were identified at this assessment. Managers and the team leader were conducting regular audits and reviews in relation to the quality and safety of the service people received. In addition, managers from the provider’s quality and compliance team routinely visited the care home to conduct their own internal audits. The outcome of all these checks and audits fed into the providers relatively new centralised electronic systems which recorded and reviewed all the key service data, to identify themes and trends which might emerge. Managers and staff held regular meetings to discuss and analyse their findings, identify themes, learn lessons and agree actions they needed to take to address any gaps in performance and improve.

Managers understood and demonstrated compliance with regulatory requirements. They also understood their responsibility to provide honest information, suitable support and to apply duty of candour where appropriate.

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 shared information and learning with partners and worked closely with to continuously improve. Managers and staff told us they worked in close partnership with various external health and social care professionals and bodies who they regularly consulted and welcomed their views and advice. These external community health and social care professionals included GP’s and NHS medical staff, learning disability and positive behavioural support teams, local authority social workers, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, psychiatrists and palliative care nurses.

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.

Systems were in place to review performance, identify learning opportunities and adapt practice. The provider demonstrated willingness to innovate and develop their service and systems, including investing in a new electronic care records system. The provider routinely analysed the outcome of audits and checks they regularly conducted to identify performance shortfalls and learn lessons. When lessons needed to be learnt, the provider developed time specific action plans which set out clearly what, how and when they needed to take steps to improve the service they provided people. Staff confirmed information about any lessons that needed to be learnt and changes to policies and procedures were regularly shared and discussed with them at individual and group meeting.