Little Oyster Residential Home

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• 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

There was an inclusive and positive culture of continuous learning and improvement. This was based on meeting the needs of people who use services. Leaders proactively supported staff and collaborated with partners to deliver care that was safe and person-centred. There were effective governance and management systems in place. Information about risks, performance and outcomes was used effectively to improve 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.

Staff told us they liked working in the service and the management team were supportive and approachable. Staff told us the new systems that had been implemented were good and they had enabled them to carry out their roles effectively. Staff were passionate about providing good quality care to people.

The provider had a shared vision, strategy and culture. They understood the challenges and the needs of people. The registered manager had kept up to date with local and national developments within health and social care and had attended forums, training and signed up to well known, reputable websites to find advice and guidance such as Skills for Care. Skills for Care supports adult social care employers to deliver what the people they support need and what commissioners and regulators expect. The management team continued to hold a weekly clinical risk meeting. This was an opportunity to discuss outstanding actions from previous meetings as well as new issues in relation to a variety of clinical areas, such as wounds, infections and medicines. Information was gathered daily from each area of the service, which was used to inform the agenda for the clinical risk meetings. Daily staff meetings with all heads of departments aimed to ensure staff were kept up to date with any changes. There were processes in place to gain feedback from people about their care and support, people were listened to. ‘Residents’ meetings were held regularly and there was a schedule of meetings planned for the year.

One of the managers shared that staff have learnt so much and they were enjoying more face to face training. The provider was now offering training sessions beyond those that are mandatory and specialist training was being provided to help staff support people better, for example, diabetes, catheter care, epilepsy awareness and use of rescue medicines and Parkinson's disease. The management team were passionate about improving the service and recognised that the service had moved along way in the last year.

The provider had deployed a skilled and experienced management team from the senior manager, registered manager and deputy manager. The whole management team had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively. Mentoring and support had been put in place to help staff in different positions. The management team led with integrity, openness and honesty to ensure care and support was delivered inline with people’s wishes, expectations to embody the culture and values of the workforce and organisation. People and relatives told us the management team had an open door policy and made time to talk with them.

Staff confirmed they were invited to meetings and encouraged to contribute. Staff meeting minutes evidenced that these took place regularly. Staff were encouraged to voice their ideas for improvements. Staff told us they were looking forward to further growth and development in the service.

The provider had systems and processes in place to foster a positive culture where people felt that they could speak up and have their voices heard. Posters and information were available around the service (including in easy to read formats) to support people and staff to know and understand about speaking up.

Staff told us they received appropriate support. Staff explained that the management team were flexible and this included when staff had personal issues as well as work related issues. The team knew each other well. A staff member said, “The management team are excellent now, very supportive and approachable.”

The provider had an audit programme in place. Regular audits were undertaken by different members of the management team. Shortfalls highlighted during audits were transferred to an ongoing action plan. The action plan identified the staff accountable for the actions and the timeline for completion. The action plan was updated regularly as actions were taken and issues resolved. Services providing health and social care to people are required to inform the CQC of important events that happen in the service. This is so we can check that appropriate action has been taken. The management team had correctly submitted notifications to CQC. People's personal records were stored securely in the office. People's personal records were also stored on computers and applications on tablets, these were protected by passwords, so that only staff who had been authorised to access the information could do so. Important messages were communicated to staff effectively to ensure people's care was safe. Staff utilised handover meetings, handover records, daily meetings and communication books to communicate changes.

Staff told us they liked working in the service and the registered manager was supportive and approachable. Staff told us the new systems that had been implemented were good. Staff we spoke with were confident that they could discuss any concerns with the management team and these would be acted on, they were aware of how to escalate concerns to senior management or outside of the organisation.

The provider had systems and processes in place to collaborate and work in partnership with health partners, social services and local authority contracting teams. This enabled them to share information and learning with partners and collaborate for improvement. The management team had met with local authority partners and engaged in reviews of the service and practice.

A paramedic told us they had noticed a massive improvement in the last year. They said, “The service have been proactive in recognising and reporting concerns and they discuss these with us daily in the call.” One local authority shared their draft report of their review with us, this showed improvements had been made across all the areas checked since 2023.

The management team explained how they had met and engaged with senior commissioning officers within one local authority to discuss improvements and explore ways that people who were due to move to new/different providers could be appropriately supported. They told us partner requests for information had been actioned in a timely manner.

Staff told us the staff had improved and new systems had helped them. They told us about the new handover tool and how it has improved staff knowledge of changes to people’s needs or any changes needed as a result of an incident. Following incidents lessons were learned and shared. A member of the management team said, “I feel that systems are robust and alert us where things need to be amended.” The management team detailed how they had changed the service to provide a bespoke service to a smaller group of people. People with a primary diagnosis of learning disability had been served notice in 2023 and most people had moved on to different services to meet their individual needs. The management team shared how they had learnt that this approach had made a positive impact on the staff team and meant that staff training could be focused.

The provider had systems and processes in place to continuous learn, innovate and improve the service. They ensure people, relatives, staff and professionals were asked for their feedback and opinions. The service has not received any compliments or complaints since the last inspection. However, 2 compliments were seen from June 2023, both from professional visitors. Both commented on the friendly, welcoming atmosphere and one complimented the care workers on their level of knowledge about the people, the detailed handovers and the clean, tidy and uncluttered environment.