Veronica House 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

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. 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 71 (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. Staff were able to share with us the values and aims of the service. One staff member said, “I always describe this job as a passion and it is lovely working here. We make sure we treat people well.” The management team told us they used the provider’s values in meetings with staff to try and get the best out of the staff team. One member of the management team told us, “It’s a family feel. Staff get on well. We want to provide the best care.” The registered manager told us they tried to give staff opportunities based on their skills. For example, where people had skills from previous roles, they worked to identify how they could be used at the service for the benefit of people or the staff group.

The provider had inclusive leaders at all levels who understood the context in which they delivered care, treatment and support. They did so with integrity, openness and honesty. People, relatives and staff spoke positively about how the home was managed. Although relatives feedback reflected some previously had concerns about the service, everyone we spoke with was happy their family member was living at Veronica House. One relative told us, “Nothing could be improved, it’s all well run and I would recommend it.” Staff told us the management team encouraged them to develop professionally and provided support to them both personally and professionally. There were systems in place to ensure each member of the management team understood their responsibilities and additional governance was provided by the nominated individual and the operations director.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. Staff told us they felt able to speak up about any concerns they had. One staff member shared with us an example of how they had raised concerns and felt they had been listened to. The provider had a policy in place called ‘Say So’ which staff could use to raise any issues or concerns about people, or the way the service was being run. Staff we spoke with were aware of this. The registered manager told us they encouraged staff to come and speak with them in their office and also made sure they were available following staff meetings if staff members wanted to speak with them individually.

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. Staff told us they felt included in the development of the service and their skills were valued by the management team. The provider’s recruitment process was inclusive and staff member’s diverse needs were considered once their employment began. This included those with protected characteristics such as religion or sexuality. The operations director told us, “We are considering accreditation from organisations who support us to better value diversity in our staff team. I hope this will prompt us to think differently about things we perhaps haven’t already considered."

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. Staff were able to explain to us the systems that were in place to monitor the quality of care people received and capture people’s experiences. The management team took shared responsibility for governance which was overseen by the registered manager. The registered manager conducted reviews of quality across the service and developed action plans to ensure any areas which fell below the expected standards were addressed within a measurable timeframe. In addition to this the provider had further systems in place to provide oversight of the service and to hold the registered manager accountable for any outstanding actions. These systems had been used to drive improvement across the service since the last inspection.

Although the provider understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, they did not always share information effectively from partner agencies to their staff. Feedback from external agencies reflected that the service had improved since the last inspection. However, some professionals raised concerns that information did not always seem to be shared effectively with staff. At times, this had resulted in some staff members not providing care that met people’s current needs. The registered manager told us they had been working to improve communication with partner agencies and felt this had been going well. However, internal communication systems required further improvement to ensure all staff were aware of changes in people’s planned care, or instructions given by a visiting professional.

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. Staff told us the management team reviewed incidents and events and shared learning with them for improvement and development. Daily flash meetings were held and any learning was shared with the staff team to reduce risk and improve people’s experience of care. Where areas of development had been identified staff had received training to improve their knowledge and skills. The registered manager was ambitious about the service. They told us they had worked with the staff team and provider representatives to make improvements since the last inspection and were keen to continue to improve to ensure people received high quality care and support.