Westerley Residential Care Home for the Elderly - Woodhall Spa

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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

People, their relatives and staff gave good feedback about how the service was run. They all felt they were listened to and their opinions mattered. People were supported to be part of the community they lived in.

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.

We did not look at Shared direction and culture during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

We did not look at Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

Staff were very positive about their ability to speak up and be listened to by the management team. One member of staff gave an example of how their ideas on one person’s care was listened to and taken forward. Staff were aware there was a whistle blowing policy. A member of staff said, “I know where it is (staff room), but I have had no cause to use it since being here.” The manager told us they held regular staff meetings and they and their deputy had completed supervisions with staff. All the staff we spoke with told us the supervisions were positive. One member of staff who had recently had a yearly appraisal said, “The appraisal made me feel good because (manager) highlighted what I had done well!” Staff told us the manager had an open door policy and everyone we spoke with felt comfortable approaching them with any issues whether they were personal or work related. One member of staff said, “Brilliant management team, they bend over backwards to support us.” They went on to say, “Staff morale is good, if we have issues we are able to voice them and get them sorted.”

There was an up to date Whistleblowing policy in place and evidence of regular team meetings and supervisions. The provider had processes in place to monitor the service and support the manager and undertook regular visits to the service.

Staff we spoke with gave positive feedback about the way they and the people living at the service were treated by the managers. Two members of staff told us the management team had been very supportive when they had needed to work flexibly due to short term family issues. One member of staff said, “I can raise any concerns to the manager, 100%, the management team have been very supportive of me. I really appreciate their support.” Another member of staff said, “It is a very person- centred place to work, for both staff and residents.” They gave an example of a resident who wanted to treat the staff to fish and chips on their birthday. The person had to go into hospital on that day at short notice, however when they got back the manager set up a special dining room and got them fish and chips from the shop. They then sat and had lunch with the person so they could enjoy the occasion.

There were clear processes in place to ensure staff were treated equality. The service had robust recruitment processes in place and there was an equality and diversity policy in place.

We did not look at Governance, management and sustainability during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

People were supported by staff to go out into the local community if they wished. The manager had introduced a key worker role for staff. Each person living at the service had a named member of staff. Staff would sit with people and find out what they enjoyed, we saw people had been able to go out and watch the local bowls for example.

Staff were happy with the way the manager had been raising the profile of the home in the local community. They told us they had held a summer fete at the service which was well attended and they had regular coffee mornings to encourage relatives, their friends and members of the local community to attend.

The feedback we received from health professionals as mentioned elsewhere in this report was very positive. One group of health professionals told us the feedback from their staff, clinical and reception staff, was that this care home is one of the best in the area. They said, “Many of our clinicians find the staff professional upon visiting and always carry out medical instructions.”

As mentioned elsewhere in this report we saw policies and protocols in place to support partnership working. This included using processes to communicate effectively with other health professionals such as the use of the “Ask my GP” service.

We did not look at Learning, improvement and innovation during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.