Alexander House Care Home

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 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.

Discussions took place with prospective staff from the recruitment stage and revisited in staff meetings and supervisions to make sure staff understood the provider’s vision and values for the service. There was a reminder of the vision and values statement in the staff room.

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 registered manager and area manager were very responsive and pro-active to the assessment process. They knew from their own auditing where they would like to drive improvement within the service and took immediate action to address the minor issues we identified on the first day of our assessment. People, their relatives and staff told us they had confidence in the management team. One relative told us, “I think it’s really well led, the managers aren’t tucked away you can always speak to them if you need to, there’s a different manager that leads the shift daily, we can always speak to them if we need to, we can get information. I think it’s led really well” and another said, “I had to see [registered manager] and I’d not been to her office before, I asked if I could have 2 minutes with her, I felt welcomed, it wasn’t an issue to be taken to her”.

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

People’s opinions were important to the provider and there were a number of ways available for people to speak up. People and their relatives knew the registered manager and said they could speak to them at any time. People were confident their views would be heard. Complaints and compliments were analysed to look for themes which could help in driving improvement within the service.

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.

The provider employed a diverse staff team including different ethnic backgrounds and genders. Staff felt involved in the service through staff meetings and surveys and felt their opinions mattered. Outcomes of incidents, complaints, safeguarding events and assessments of the service were shared to staff to support their learning.

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.

Effective quality audit systems were in place to assess, monitor, improve and sustain the quality and safety of the service. Where issues were identified, actions needed were documented usually with timescales. Audits completed within the service were checked by the area manager and by the provider’s quality team.

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.

Staff worked in partnership with health and social care professionals, local authority staff and services within the community to support and improve the health and wellbeing of people living at the service.

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 looked for ways in which they could take learning from feedback gained about the service from various sources. For example, although only one person had indicated in their satisfaction survey that they did not feel involved in their care planning, an action was put in place to make sure staff involved everyone, wherever possible, in the development and review of their care plans.

The registered manager used partners knowledge and expertise to source training for staff and learning was shared across the provider’s services.