Archived: Longbridge Deverill House and Nursing 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

We reviewed 7 quality statements in this key question.

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.

Staff spoke highly of the culture of the service. Comments included, “Our management are very serious about residents and their families. [Registered manager] will make sure everyone is happy” and, “The management team here actually care about everyone; staff and residents.” All the staff we spoke with said they felt confident to speak up. One staff member said, “As carers we are given the opportunity to voice our opinions about things. And if there is something new or a change in what we must do, we are given the reason why.” People’s relatives spoke of the atmosphere at the service. Comments included, “It's a friendly welcoming atmosphere when you walk in and they [staff] are great to me” and, “The manager is first class. The whole ethos is that ‘we are a team, we support each other, and we look after each other’ and that shows. I can talk to [registered manager] if I ever need to and if I had any worries or concerns I wouldn't hesitate to speak to [them] or any of the other staff.” One staff member said, "I can see the changes in the last five years. Since [registered manager and deputy manager] have been here, it's been great. [Regional Director] comes regularly, and speaks to the staff. I do feel it is getting better. All the feedback from families is so positive; it's going in the right direction."

A quarterly newsletter was given to people and their relatives to keep them up to date with activity and changes at the service. Staff were provided with information on the provider values at induction. Staff feedback about the service had been sought. We reviewed the analysis of the latest survey and how the service had responded to suggestions for improvement. For example, some staff had suggested improvements to the induction process for new staff and these were in the process of being implemented.

There was unanimously positive feedback about the management team. People told us they knew who the manager and the deputy manager were and saw them quite often. Staff spoke highly of the management team. Comments included, “They are around a lot and are very approachable”, “[Registered manager] and [deputy manager] are very supportive and will help you resolve any issues. I would give them 100% for that” and, “We always see [registered manager] and [deputy manager]. They are always walking round the building.” One staff member said “We have a lot of staff from overseas here. The management team are very supportive. During the recent riots, there was a message to overseas staff telling them where to go for support if they felt worried.”

There was a registered manager in post who was supported by the provider and other management staff at the service. The deputy manager showed us how they had developed training and information for overseas staff to explain the importance of and how to use equipment such as hoists and bed rails and other topics such as mental capacity. They told us the staff were provided with this on top of mandatory training and that competence was then assessed. The management team told us they had regular staff meetings. The deputy manager said, “We [deputy and registered manager] do night meetings and we come in at 4am to make sure night staff also see us. They get sent the minutes of meetings if they can't attend, although we try to meet staff face to face to go through the minutes as well.”

Staff told us they felt confident to speak up if they had concerns about poor standards of care. One staff member said, “We are encouraged to speak up. If I was worried about care standards, I'd go to my senior, or to management and if it wasn’t sorted I would whistle blow. I'm 100% confident they would take me seriously and look into it straight away. They are really on the ball.” Another staff member said, “We've been trained to speak up. We've had really good training about it. It’s important to be accurate and honest.”

The management team recognised that not all staff felt confident to raise concerns. The deputy manager said, “We have open door surgery time slots for those staff who feel more comfortable on a one to one.” The provider had a whistleblowing policy which was available to all staff.

The deputy manager told us that during recent riots, some staff felt uncomfortable using public transport to come to work, and the provider offered to provide taxis to transport staff each way.

The service was made up of a diverse workforce. Some staff had moved from overseas to start their employment and told us they had been supported to settle in and made to feel welcome. Overseas staff we spoke with said they felt included and part of the team. Accommodation was provided on site for overseas staff who wanted it. The provider had a range of policies and initiatives to support equality, diversity and inclusion amongst the workforce.

Staff told us the management team were visible and present within the service. The deputy manager shared feedback about all the improvements made to governance systems and how this helped to gain a better management oversight of the service. The management team told us they were hoping to move from paper to electronic records in the near future.

Regular audits were carried out of different aspects of the service, such as medicines management, infection prevention and control, and incidents. Regular medicine audits had highlighted issues around prescribed times conflicting with people’s sleep patterns. This had been discussed with the GP and people’s medicines reviewed. There was an action plan to monitor implementation of improvements to the service. During this assessment, shortfalls we raised were addressed immediately or looked into and the registered manager informed us of actions taken. Statutory notifications were made to CQC in line with regulations.

People did not share any concerns about this quality statement and people's records demonstrated they had timely contact with healthcare professionals.

The management team told us they did regular walk arounds to monitor the service first hand. The management team attended bi-monthly provider meetings where lessons learned, and good practise was shared across all the provider’s services. Regular clinical meetings took place to ensure all clinical staff were kept up to date with people’s health needs. Staff told us they worked with many different professionals to make sure people’s needs were met.

Professionals we contacted did not share any concerns about this quality statement. One professional said, “They [staff] are really good at sharing information with us. When they think things aren’t quite right for one person, they [staff] will often copy me in on emails so that I’m always informed. They really are very responsive, and I do think we have a good relationship.”

The service had good links with community organisations, such as supporting a local voluntary group with dementia care advice and training. The service ran a dementia café weekly where they offered a breakfast club for anyone to visit to find out about the service and gain support and advice about dementia. The service had dementia champions and nurses who supported this initiative. The service held fetes and engaged with the local radio station to invite people living in the community to attend. The service had good links with other support services such as the care home liaison team and told us ways in which they hoped to develop and build on this.

The deputy manager shared feedback and showed us how previous nutrition audits had led to the service running a ‘lunchtime matters’ initiative. This was a whole home approach at mealtimes to ensure everyone had enough to eat and drink. Because of this, people’s weight had improved, and the risk of malnutrition had reduced.

There was a range of provider led quality assurance audits in place. These were carried out alongside a series of internal audits. For example, we saw nutrition, wound, oral care and care plan audits. There was a service improvement plan in place. The provider had asked people for their views of the service to identify any improvements that could be made. We reviewed the latest survey results and the records of actions taken. This included offering a greater choice of fresh fruit and vegetables at mealtimes for example and improving the dining experience for people. Complaints were logged and investigated.