The Old Vicarage

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

We found the service was well-led, resulting in good standards of care being provided to people living at The Old Vicarage. The manager and staff team demonstrated considerable action had been taken in response to our last inspection findings, to achieve an improved score and return to compliance with the breaches of the regulations in relation to good governance and oversight of the service.

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.

People and their relatives were encouraged to be involved in the ongoing development and improvements to the service. People’s views and feedback was regularly sought.

Staff told us they valued the clear leadership and direction in place under the current manager, as they felt this enabled them to meet the requirements of their roles to the very best of their abilities. The manager and deputy manager worked alongside the staff team to develop their levels of involvement in driving change and improvements within the service. They also encouraged staff to take on additional responsibilities with support in place, with the aim of developing shared direction and growth within the service. The independent consultancy team gave their feedback in relation to the amount of time and effort they felt the manager and deputy manager had invested in the staff team, and improvements to the service to ensure people received consistent standards of care. We observed the manager and deputy manager to lead by example. They were at the service early, and made themselves available to staff, people and visitors throughout the day. Culture within the service was observed to be open, and morale within the staff team dynamics and relationships found to be positive. Our observations were reinforced by feedback we received. Policies, procedures and systems were in place to support ongoing development and improvement of the service.

People were supported by staff and leaders who demonstrated skills, knowledge and compassion in their approach. People were treated with respect and kindness, and this was confirmed in the feedback we received. Our findings were confirmed from feedback we received from people’s relatives, which stated, “The manager is putting the residents first and the families first too, they are the best manager they have had there. What the manager has promised to do, has happens.” The manager and deputy manager were familiar with each person’s care and support needs and spoke passionately about their role within ensuring people received the right levels of internal and external support. Staff and leaders advocated for people when required to ensure equity of access to service. Staff received regular supervision and performance appraisals to ensure any areas of personal development were identified. People’s relatives gave positive feedback about the quality of leadership in place at the service. A relative told us, “The new manager is so good, I cannot fault them. I have seen the improvements.” People’s relatives consistently told us they felt the manager and staff were, “Open and honest,” and kept them updated on change happening with the service.

Supervision, performance appraisals, audits and quality checks were in place to monitor standards of care provision, and individual staff performance. We observed the manager and deputy manager to show care and compassion towards people, staff and visitors. Their approach was in turn mirrored by the staff team. Our observations were confirmed by feedback we received from people’s relatives, which stated, “The manager shows leadership, they are leading a team of caring people, the manager is kind and compassionate and respectful towards peoples’ needs and are very visible.”

Staff felt able to speak to the manager and deputy and raise any concerns without fear of reprisals. The manager and deputy manager worked alongside the staff team, to form strong working relationships and ensure staff felt comfortable speaking up if felt to be required. People were encouraged to speak up and their feedback was acted on and valued. People’s feedback, complaints and compliments positively influenced the way individualised care and support was provided to them. People’s relatives told us they felt comfortable to raise concerns or complaints, and these would be taken seriously and acted on. Under the current manager, relatives told us they felt lines of communication had greatly improved. Relatives told us, “I feel very able and confident to speak up if anything was needed, they always say if there is a problem then please come and tell us.” Another relative stated, “I think they are fair to everyone, I can speak up safely.”

Information was available to staff around methods of escalating concerns internally and externally, including whistleblowing procedures. We observed a healthy, open and honest culture from our interactions and contact with the staff team. Our findings and observations were reinforced by staff feedback we received.

Staff told us they felt part of a team, and their views and contributions were welcomed, and they were treated equally whatever role they held. The manager and deputy manager told us how proud they were of the whole staff team, and the amount of energy they brought onto each shift to ensure people received positive care outcomes. People’s own protected characteristics, personal wishes and preferences were respected and were treated as individuals. This approach fostered a culture of mutual respect between people and staff as an outcome. We observed staff to be working as a collaborative and inclusive team, involving the whole staff team in regular meetings, and service improvement.

Systems were in place to ensure staff were fairly and safely recruited, and they had the required skills and attributes to meet the requirements of their roles and responsibilities. People’s relatives told us they felt their feedback and suggestions to be welcomed and acted on. They felt of the whole care staff worked together to support their loved ones and contribute to the planning and delivery of their care.

Staff told us they felt the service was well managed under the current manager, and they had systems and processes in place to support them to meet their roles to the best of their abilities. Staff were involved in the completion of audits and quality checks to monitor their own performance, and care provision completed by colleagues. This shared approach to governance ensure the whole staff team took accountability and understood more about the importance and reasons for completion. We observed staff and leaders taking great pride in their service, recognising where things had previously not worked well, and the accountability and systems implemented to address these shortfalls. Staff and leaders were keen to continue to develop the service.

People’s relatives spoke positively about the leadership and oversight the current manager and deputy manager had of the running of the service, and ensured they were kept updated of changes happening within the service. A relative said, “They issue a newsletter, and we get to know what is going on. The paperwork is much better. Yes, I think they are open and honest. ”The manager and deputy manager had oversight of the day to day running of the service through audits and quality checks, as well as providing out of hours support when required. Staff individual performance was monitored, and any concerns addressed in a timely manner. Our findings were reinforced by feedback we received from people’s relatives, which stated, “I think there is a whole home clear leadership, the new manager is the Captain of the ship, the staff respect them.”

People and their relatives worked in partnership with staff, to develop their own care and support plans, and to ensure their views and preferences were fully recognised and upheld. People were able to access events organised within the service, as well as part of the wider community. This was confirmed by feedback from a relative, which stated, “My loved one is involved in the home, the activity coordinator takes them up to the local village. They went up and got me a card and some sweets for my birthday.” We observed people and their relatives to be held at the centre of decision making, and part of the team to ensure positive lived experiences and care outcomes. People and staff showed us paintings of each person, that had been completed by the activity coordinator, as an important method of forming meaningful relationships and getting to know people. The paintings built a sense of community within the service as a talking point.

Staff and leaders worked in partnership with local services such as the church and local shops to support the day to day running of the service, as well as the provision of meaningful activities.

We received positive feedback from the GP surgery regarding their working relationship with the service, and the arrangements in place to ensure visits to the service were an effective use of time.

Systems were in place to complete required safety checks before external entertainers and groups visited the service.

Leaders and staff demonstrated a keenness to learn from incidents and complaints, and for this to be a whole home approach. Staff were proud of the improvements made to the service, and their contributions to ensuring the service returned to being compliant with the regulations. Staff and leaders were responsive to our feedback and were keen to be inspected to have an opportunity to demonstrate the changes and improvements made to the service. The independent consultant for the service was complimentary about the manager, deputy manager and staff team, in their acceptance of the implementation to changes in their ways of working to learn from the previous inspection, and drive improvements.

New governance and auditing systems were being embedded to support ongoing improvements within the service, and ensure good levels of monitoring and oversight. We observed a staff and leadership team, who were open trying new ways of working, ensuring the needs of people living at the service remained their priority.