St Ann's Lodge 1

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

Staff provided people with safe, high quality care in line with the provider’s vision for the service. They were supported and motivated to do so by a senior staff team who were knowledgeable, experienced and who understood the needs of people and how these should be met. Senior staff understood their roles and responsibilities and demonstrated compliance with regulatory requirements. Effective systems were now in place to check and audit the quality and safety of the service. Issues identified through checks and audits were acted on and used to support staff to improve their working practices. People and staff were encouraged to raise concerns and these were listened to. Staff were provided fair and equal opportunity at work and were valued and respected. Feedback was sought from people and staff about how the service could be improved and this was used, with other learning, to make improvements to the service when this was required. Senior staff worked proactively with partners to continually improve the service for people to help them achieve positive outcomes and a good quality of life.

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 understood the provider’s vision of people receiving safe, caring and high quality care at the service. A staff member told us, “Managers are focused on people’s safety, that people are cared for, that it’s clean and that people get their medicines when they need them.” Staff working practices reflected the provider’s vision. This was evidenced by feedback from people and relatives who praised the kindness, care, safety and quality of care and support provided by staff at the service.

Arrangements were in place to ensure staff were focussed on the provider’s vision for the service and understood how to achieve these. The deputy manager said, “We promote this when staff start working for us and it starts with induction. We make sure staff are clear about the policies and procedures and we use 1-2-1’s to make sure that staff are following these.”

Staff were well supported and comfortable asking senior staff for advice and support when needed. A staff member told us, “It’s very nice here and 100 per cent supported by the managers. That is the most important reason I work here.” Staff said senior staff managed the service well. A staff member told us, “The managers are brilliant. They are really supportive. Definitely experienced and know what they are doing. I think they put people first here.” The management team was knowledgeable, experienced and understood the needs of people using the service. The deputy manager said, “We have daily meetings with each other and we share duties and responsibilities between each other.” The team leader told us, “We work as a team together and always there to pick things up. We think there is good leadership because we work together, having a shared common goal and communication.”

The management team understood the priorities for the service and how these should be achieved. They undertook regular training to ensure they were up to date with current practice. The deputy manager told us, “We have been doing a lot of training and webinars to stay up to date with current practice…I have done leadership and management in care and also a train the trainer for adult social care, mental health and I add on additional training to keep my continuing professional development (CPD) ongoing.” The provider had plans in place to prepare for senior staff to take on key management roles in the future. This helped to ensure people and staff would continue to experience continuity in leadership and management of the service.

Senior staff encouraged an open and transparent culture in which people and staff could speak up and share any concerns they had about the service. People and relatives told us they were comfortable raising concerns and felt listened to by senior staff. The deputy manager told us, “Every afternoon we have tea together with people and we chat and talk about how things are. If we feel people need a 1-2-1 chat we offer this to people. Anything that is worrying people we encourage them to come forward.” Staff were confident that any concerns they raised would be listened to and acted on. A staff member told us, “You can talk about anything with managers and they will act in a proper way towards people.” Another staff member said, “Definitely encouraged to speak up if something is wrong.”

Systems were in place to support people and staff to speak up and share any concerns they had about the service. People and staff were informed about how to report concerns and how these would be dealt with. Senior staff made sure staff supervision meetings enabled staff to discuss any concerns they had and encouraged to speak freely, without fear of consequences.

Staff were valued and provided equal opportunities to achieve their work goals and objectives. A staff member said, “I feel I’m treated equally and fairly and would get the same opportunity to do things as the rest of the staff team.” Senior staff promoted a fair and inclusive workplace for staff. The deputy manager told us, “All staff have the same opportunities even though our staff team is diverse. We always make sure that every staff get the same things. We buddy staff together so they are learning from each other. We plan shifts based on staff’s needs and allow for flexibility where staff have caring responsibilities. We accommodate when staff want time off to celebrate religious festivals. We forward plan to accommodate things like Christmas. We also make sure shifts are planned in line with people’s travelling needs as well. Managers will always step in to cover shifts if needed.”

The provider had systems in place to support all staff to continuously learn and develop in the role. There were opportunities for career progression which were available to any staff member that wanted this. Staff were provided support through relevant training and supervision to inform their knowledge and understanding of equality, inclusivity and fairness in the workplace.

Staff had a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities and were well supported and motivated to provide safe, high quality care to people. A staff member told us, “I enjoy my work here. If anything makes me uncomfortable or uncertain about anything I can talk to [senior staff] and they will tell me how to do things the right way. It’s done very respectfully. I can ask them anything and they will help me to learn and improve.” Senior staff told us they undertook a range of audits and checks to help them monitor, review and assess the actions, behaviours and performance of staff.

Effective systems were now in place to check and audit the quality and safety of the care and support provided to people. These had been updated following a recommendation we made at our last inspection. Issues identified through checks and audits were acted on and used to support staff to improve their working practices. The registered manager understood and demonstrated compliance with regulatory requirements. Senior staff understood their responsibility to provide honest information, suitable support and to apply duty of candour where appropriate.

People’s specific communication needs were well understood. This helped staff to identify and feed back to senior staff when people’s responses might indicate changes or improvements were needed to the care and support people received. Senior staff acted on people’s feedback to make changes or improvements that people wanted. This ensured the service was designed and delivered in line with people’s needs, wishes and preferences.

Staff were provided opportunities to share their views and give feedback about how the service could be improved for people. A staff member told us, “We are encouraged to give ideas about improvements.” Senior staff told us they worked with partners on projects to improve the service for people. The service had recently worked with a partner to introduce a new way of delivering activities at the service. Feedback from people about this was positive and people indicated this was fun and enjoyable.

Partners had positive experiences of working with the provider to collaborate on the delivery of safe, high quality care to people. A healthcare professional told us, “The staff team have been very eager to take on any suggestions I have observed, with excellent person centred care every time I have visited.” Another healthcare professional said, “The staff there are doing their best and do take on board my recommendations.”

Arrangements were in place for the service to work proactively with partners and seek their guidance and recommendations about how to support people achieve positive outcomes and experiences. Seniors staff met with healthcare professionals when needed, to share learning and experiences about the delivery of people’s care and support. This was then shared with the staff team to help them improve their practice and deliver high quality care and support to people.

Staff were supported to learn and improve in their role, through regular training, supervision and staff meetings. Senior staff used feedback and learning to improve outcomes and people’s quality of life. Senior staff told us they were continually looking for creative ways the service could continuously improve for people. They told us the service was involved in projects with partners, at the time of this visit, to improve activities provision for people and creative ways to support people with their nutrition and hydration needs.

Systems were in place to obtain feedback from people and staff to help the service learn and improve. Senior staff used the learning from feedback, along with outcomes from audits and checks, to make improvements to the quality and safety of the care and support provided to people. Senior staff used guidance and support from local networks and partners to continually improve their knowledge and practice in relation to how the service is delivered.