Archived: Northcott House Residential Care and Nursing Home Also known as 1-684385445

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. The provider was previously in breach of the legal regulation in relation to governance. Improvements were found at this assessment and the provider was no longer in breach of this regulation. 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.

Staff told us there was an open culture where they felt confident to speak up. Staff said this open culture was a positive change for the staff team. For example, a staff member told us, “Morale and the culture has improved; when I started it was a bit down; maybe down to a lack of communication. I think it is much more open communication now, an open-door policy, it feels more upbeat. Every change we have put in place, staff have taken on board” and “The medication side of things is very transparent now, and I think that energy has come over to the whole of the team.”

One staff member said, “All the staff get on well together. They all understand that when we are here, the residents come first. The residents’ wellbeing is most important to us, and we have to work as a team.” Regular staff meetings took place, and staff told us they felt able to speak up and raise concerns or make suggestions during these.

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.

Staff spoke highly of the management team. They told us they were visible and supportive. Comments included, “They [management team] are a lot more visible. [Deputy managers] are there at every mealtime helping out, they’re amazing. They’re always wandering around and checking in on staff and residents” and “They are the best managers I’ve had since I’ve come to England. They are fair, approachable and they don’t hide anything; they’ll tell you anything straight away.” Staff told us it was easy to contact the management team out of hours with any queries. All staff told us they felt supported in their roles.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. All staff we spoke with knew how to raise concerns. Whistleblowing information was readily available for staff to access if needed. One staff member said, “If I had any concerns I would firstly go to [registered manager] and make [them] aware of what happened. If there was no action, I would go to head office, but [registered manager] always takes action.”

The registered manager told us, “I have an open-door policy. A lot of staff will message me if they have concerns.” They gave examples of when staff had raised concerns to them in the past and the action they had taken. We saw this was documented.

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 staff team was diverse with many staff from overseas.

Staff told us they felt included and considered themselves part of the team. Comments included, “The team culture is mixed here. I love meeting people from other cultures. It was more separated before between English staff and those from other countries; it was quite segregated but now it’s more balanced” and “I think it works. I get on with everyone here. It’s the nicest thing about working here, everyone is friends with everyone.”

The registered manager told us staff had attended a local care association training course specifically for overseas staff which looked at subjects including culture, language, and everyday English. They told us, “Having a diverse deputy team, helps. We appreciate the different cultures working here and tell staff it's OK to have a chat and a cup of tea with residents.”

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. A new management team was in place, who had clear roles and responsibilities.

Regular audits and checks were carried out in all areas of the service, during the day and overnight. Audits showed action was taken where areas of improvement were identified. Analysis of clinical aspects of the service such as nutrition, skin integrity and infections were carried out monthly to identify any trends, alongside daily meetings. Information arising from these audits contributed to monthly manager action improvement and learning plans. We saw examples of these and how the information within led to changes and improvements within the service, such as improving care plans. The provider carried out regular assurance visits. Action plans were produced and this meant there was additional oversight at provider level. Records showed identified actions had been completed or were ongoing.

The leadership team told us they assured themselves of the standard of care delivery through observations of staff. One of the deputy managers told us, “We've got 4 of us watching. Me and [other deputy manager] are on the floor randomly to make sure things are OK” and “I think we provide a good quality of care here because our team is caring, very dedicated. I can hear the staff talking to people when they support them. I can hear staff completing their tasks but also taking time to chat with people.”

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 had a good relationship with the local GP service and teams of other health professionals. The registered manager said, “We do want to improve our community links. We did have a lot more input. We have someone from the church who comes weekly, a local men's club comes and does singing. We have a farm day coming up and we will put fliers through local resident’s doors to invite them to come along.”

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.

Incidents and accidents were reported, investigated, and analysed for trends. Lessons learned were shared with staff during staff meetings and daily handovers. Staff received regular training and updates and all the staff we spoke with said they felt trained to carry out their roles. For example, a staff member said, “The training here is good. We always have training to do on-line. We do manual handling training in person and the nurses always do training with us.”

All the staff we spoke with, including the leadership team told us the service had improved in the last 6 months. Examples of this included staff allocation around the building, and record keeping. Staff told us they were routinely asked for their feedback and suggestions. For example, one member of staff said, “They [management team] do ask us for feedback. We can write feedback confidentiality by putting our feedback in the post box for the management who can then read it and look into the areas we have raised.” Staff surveys were carried out and the results of these shared with staff in the form of ‘you said, we did’ reports.