Cheriton Care 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 good. At this assessment the rating has remained 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 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The service had a shared vision, strategy and culture. This was based on transparency, equity, equality and human rights, diversity and inclusion, engagement, and understanding challenges and the needs of people and their communities.

Staff stated they were proud to work at Cheriton Care Home. They felt the registered manager led by example, placing people's needs and a sense of community at the heart of the service. Staff at all levels understood the shared vision of being transparent and proactive to support people to achieve their goals and keep them safe from avoidable harm.

The service had inclusive leaders at all levels who understood the context in which they delivered care, treatment and support who embodied the culture and values of their workforce and organisation. Leaders had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively. They did so with integrity, openness and honesty.

Staff told us leaders were visible. Staff were confident the policies in place, such as supervisions and team meetings, provided them a space to raise concerns and access support.

The service fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. Without exception, staff spoke positively of the support they receive from the registered manager. Comments included, “I followed the registered manager to this home, they are the best manager I’ve ever had. You won’t find anyone as supportive.” , “You can speak to the registered manager any time.” And “We have some people visited by advocates, to determine what is in their best interests and with the registered manager we really fight to support families to get the support best for the person. The registered manager really changed and improved our relationships with families.”

Cheriton Care Home displayed prompts to recognise abuse so staff could be confident to ‘Speak Up’, we saw information for staff about how to raise concerns throughout the home and documented in induction resources and meeting minutes.

The service valued diversity in their workforce. Staff told us, “I’m encouraged to be creative in my role. Agincare have competitions and it brings us together.” And “We have a voice text feature to make resident notes for those of us whose first language is not English. We are able to speak clearly and know what we say is translated to words.”

Cheriton Care Home worked towards an inclusive and fair culture by improving equality and equity for people who work for them.

The service 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 act on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, and share this securely with others when appropriate. The provider had taken action to address concerns about the oversight of legionella at the service, and had sourced for an external company to undertake future risk assessments and visits to Cheriton Care Home to carry out disinfection and flushing of the water system.

The manager demonstrated they had oversight over people's current needs and risks to their health and safety. Risks to people's safety were well managed and monitored. Audits of people’s individual health demonstrated follow up actions were taken to enhance people’s wellbeing, for example when a recommendation for a person after a diabetes review was to have an eye test, this was arranged by the service and could be checked using the service’s electronic system to track completion.

The service understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, so services worked seamlessly for people.

The registered manager told us they were committed to strengthen leadership within the service by supporting staff to develop their skills.

Visiting professionals stated, “Although there can be some communication barriers within the team structure of the care home, there have been improvements since the appointment of the current manager.”

Leaders at Cheriton Care Home shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement.

The service 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. They actively contributed to safe, effective practice and research.

The registered manager told us about actions they had taken to improve the service following their appointment, this included changes to the environment to prevent near misses, and reduce the risk of harm to people living at Cheriton Care Home. These improvements had been observed by visiting professionals, “The care home manager had brought a really positive mindset and a real openness to change.”

Regular feedback from people and their relatives was sought and the registered manager provided examples of how learning opportunities had been identified when reflecting on accidents and incidents.