Park Lodge

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

Leaders had the skills, knowledge and experience to perform their roles. They had a good understanding of the services they managed and were visible in the service and approachable for young people and staff. The provider worked well with external partners also involved in the young people care. The service was pro-active in promoting and developing a positive culture. Staff felt respected and valued and said that leaders were open and honest, so they were able to raise concerns without fear. Opportunities were available for staff to raise concerns and give feedback through staff engagement forums and Freedom to Speak up representatives. The service had effective governance systems in place which identified, managed and monitored risk well. Managers implemented action plans, strategies and processes which had worked well and improved the overall governance of the service. Where required, lessons had been learned and communicated from incidents, which were used to drive improvement.

This service scored 82 (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 understood the ethos, values and vision of the service and said they were committed to providing a specialist service for people with eating disorders. Staff spoke with passion and enthusiasm for their role, the culture of the service and the care and treatment they delivered to young people. Staff said Park Lodge was a great place to work and they were proud of the work that they and their teams did. Many staff had been at Park Lodge since it opened and felt they had ownership over its development. Staff and leaders told us they had a clear vision for the service, and they strive for excellence. They had identified key staff with experience of working with young people with eating disorders when setting up the service to ensure that there were skilled staff to deliver effective care. Staff said there was a positive culture at Park Lodge which benefitted young people as all the team worked together creatively to form a bespoke service. One staff member told us the provider was 'open to being flexible and dynamic in their approach in ensuring that the needs of young people are met, especially young people who may have been perceived as being lost in the system.'

There was a strong positive culture within the hospital focused on providing specialist support for people with eating disorders through a least restrictive, person centred and goal focused approach. A comprehensive training, development and supervision programme had been implemented to ensure staff development, increase awareness of best practice, and understood and demonstrated the vision and values of the service. This was implemented through Team Development Days that staff attended on a monthly basis. The provider identified key staff to become STEP champions to reinforce and promote the model of care across the service.

Staff said leaders were supportive, visible and approachable. Leaders had an open-door policy. Staff said caring had been the theme for the hospital since day one and the clinical director had been responsible for promoting this ethos. One staff member said 'I’ve never had a manager like her, she has been on the wards with us since day one.' Staff told us other leaders adopted this approach, and the consultant psychologist and ward managers role modelled how to support young people in a person-centred way. Staff were given opportunities to develop and progress in their career and spoke positively about the STEP champions role.

There was clear leadership at a local and senior level. Managers were visible during the day-to-day provision of care and treatment. The clinical director had acknowledged that due to their role additional support was required and had recruited a deputy to support but stated that this would not change the level of visibility and oversight they had across the hospital. Leaders and managers were all experienced in the field of specialist eating disorders and child and adolescent mental health. Leaders were up to date with best practice and guidance and ensured that knowledge was shared across the whole team. Leaders ensured staff felt valued and appreciated for the role they had in delivering good quality care. A “Stepping Up” Award had been introduced where staff, young people and families could nominate staff members for a recognition award each month. Staff had recently had a Staff Awards Ceremony.

Staff knew how to raise a concern and felt confident to do so. Staff said there was a positive and open culture and they could always approach leaders if there was an issue. Managers had not received any whistleblowing concerns but said they would investigate them thoroughly and sensitively.

The hospital had a whistleblowing policy and procedure in place to ensure staff were aware of how to effectively raise a concern. It gave staff information on who they could raise concerns to including senior leaders and relevant bodies including the Care Quality Commission. Staff had access to a freedom to speak up guardian and posters were displayed in the service directing staff on how to make contact. Staff were able to raise concerns through the variety of feedback methods.

Staff said there was a positive culture and they felt valued and respected. They felt managers were respectful of diversity. Staff were not aware of any bullying or harassment issues but were confident leaders would take appropriate action if this did occur.

Managers supported staff through supervision and engagement forums. Staff had the opportunity to discuss working patterns with managers. Relevant policies, procedures and training were in place for all staff. Leaders promoted an ethos where all staff felt involved and had ownership of the service.

Leaders had efficient and comprehensive governance arrangements in place and had relevant information at hand to ensure the service was performing well. Managers attended regular clinical governance meetings and had sufficient oversight from leaders within the organisation.

We reviewed monthly governance meeting minutes. These were attended by a range of staff. Key performance indicators and monthly audit processes gave managers good oversight of the service. The service had a Quality Improvement Plan which managers used to identify actions in a timely way. Managers had clear expectations of what care and support the service aimed to provide. Robust processes were in place to safely manage sensitive data which allowed them to maintain people’s privacy, dignity and confidentiality. A risk register was in place which clearly stated what the risk was, when and how it was raised and the mitigation to reduce the risk. Risks were discussed in governance meetings alongside other issues including young person complaints, stakeholder feedback, incidents, staffing and safeguarding. Each area was discussed in detail and where required appropriate actions were put in place, and reviewed at the next meeting.

Young people told us family members and external teams were involved in their care and treatment when they had consented to this.

Staff had good relationships with wider partners including the local authority, housing, social care, and commissioning. They had collaborative meetings with these partners enabling good practice and learn lessons together. Leaders had engaged with neighbours within the local community to try and foster positive relationships. We saw friendly letters that were sent explaining what the service was and sharing contact details if they had any questions or concerns.

The service was open and transparent to external stakeholders such as the integrated care board who provided regular reviews and scrutiny. Commissioners told us they met with the service regularly to discuss overall performance of the service.

Processes such as care planning meetings, discharge meetings and ward rounds ensured all relevant partners were involved in the young person’s care. The provider worked actively with local partners. Park Lodge was involved in a pilot scheme with a regional provider collaborative around peer support. A hospital passport was developed following feedback and discussion with a local hospital to help understanding and awareness of the service user group when they were admitted to hospital.

Staff were supported to develop their skills. All staff spoke positively about their mandatory training and the monthly team development days to help develop their knowledge and skills and reflect on their practice.

Outside agencies and partners visited the service and their advice and findings were appreciated and addressed. For example, commissioners met with the service regularly to review overall performance of the service. The hospital was guided by an Expert by Experience Panel. This panel met monthly to discuss how the hospital could deliver person centred care. This panel had proved to be successful and had informed practice and supported young people and their families in their care journeys. The provider organised a Hope and Recovery Question and Answer evening for parents and carers. This was hosted by the panel and due to its success, they will continue to schedule these. The hospital had opened a school which was Ofsted registered. The school had a range of awards that students could work towards depending on their individual journey and had supported post 16 students to access a range of bespoke work experience placements within the local community including tattooist, aerospace engineering and zookeepers. The provider was conducting a pilot where young people had access to their care plans on the electronic system. If successful, the provider was hoping this could be extended to family when consent was given. The provider was in the process of developing an autism pathway. The hospital was committed to ensuring that they met the needs of people with autism while they were receiving eating disorder treatment and had sought various diagnostic and screening tools and interventions to support staff. Two staff members had been trained in conducting ADOS assessments and an autistic friendly environment assessment had been completed.