Blackwell Care Centre

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 service had a clear vision, strategy and culture. This was understood and shared by staff who showed a commitment to providing “a home with warmth and comfort.” One staff told us, “We’re here to care for, support and look after the residents, be a home for them.” There were clear and accessible policies to support service delivery.

Leaders were visible and promoted the culture and values of the organisation. Staff told us leaders were fair and approachable. People and relatives knew the leadership team and spoke positively about their impact on the service. Systems were in place to support leaders in understanding issues and priorities for the quality of the service, this included regular governance meetings and operations director audits.

The service fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. Staff told us, “I am familiar with freedom to speak up. I raised a concern today and [registered manager] has said they will address the issue.” And “I feel my opinion matters and is acted upon.” Appropriate policies and procedures were in place to support people and staff to raise concerns.

We did not look at Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

The service had clear and effective governance, management and accountability arrangements. Leaders routinely completed a range of quality audits which helped oversee risk and quality of care. This included call bell audits to assess timeliness of responses to people’s requests for support. Where issues were identified, action plans demonstrated prompt and effective action was taken to address them. Outcomes were shared with staff who understood their role in quality assurance. One staff explained, “We are all involved in acting on feedback to help us improve.”

The service understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership with a range of partner agencies, to ensure services worked seamlessly for people and to drive improvements. Feedback from stakeholders was sought and listened to, information and learning was shared appropriately. The service had good community links, such as inter-generational activities with the local nursery.

Since our last assessment, the service focused on continuous learning and improvement across the organisation, addressing issues previously identified. People, relatives, partners and staff were all engaged and involved in the running of the service. One staff told us, “We have come a long way since the last inspection.” And “Things have improved, and the home is running more efficiently.”