Braintree Nursing Home

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• 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 reviewed 5 quality statements under this key question: shared direction and culture, capable, compassionate, and inclusive leaders, governance, management and sustainability, partnerships and communities and learning, improvement and innovation. Staff were clear about their responsibilities and roles and felt supported by the manager and management team. Staff spoke positively about the leadership and culture of the service. The provider had quality assurance systems and processes in place. However, they were not always effective in monitoring the oversight of the service, this was in relation to medicines management and oversight of agency records. Following the assessment visit, the manager sent us an updated templates of their auditing processes which they were about to implement at the service. The manager took immediate action after the onsite assessment visit to update agency staff records, amend their medicines auditing processes and review people’s mental capacity assessments where required. We did not find these improvement needs affected the safety and quality of people’s care and any future risks were mitigated by the actions taken by the manager during this assessment.

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 registered manager told us, “From the time I started until now, there has been a big change. There was only 1 resident in the lounge and more residents are assisted up of their choice. We have had a high turnover of staff to ensure we achieve the standard we are trying to build.” We received positive feedback from staff about the culture of the service. One member of staff told us, “The managers know how to speak to people, I am so pleased to still be here, I have been here for many years, all the staff are friendly. I am happy to be here at work.”

Systems and process were in place to share information with staff. Daily handovers were held to share information about people using the service. Ten at ten minutes were carried out to discuss people and any concerns staff may have. The registered manager and deputy manager were visible out on the floor, and staff had the opportunity to attend regular staff meetings, share information in their 1:1’s and provide feedback via staff surveys. The registered manager and deputy manager told us they were available should any member of staff need to speak to them.

Staff felt valued and well supported by the registered and deputy managers. There was an open and transparent culture which empowered people and staff to voice their opinions and focused on continuous improvement.

The service had a strong collaborative approach. Annual surveys provided people using the service with the opportunity to feedback their opinions on the support they received. The information received was collated and used to drive improvements.

There was an open and transparent culture at the service which empowered people and staff to voice their opinions. Staff had confidence in the registered manager and felt comfortable raising concerns and making suggestions to help develop the service.

Staff had the opportunity to contribute to the development of the service and engage with the registered managers through regular staff meetings.

The registered manager valued her staff and role they played within the organisation. In turn, staff felt appreciated and emulated the values of the service in their actions.

Staff achievements were recognised and celebrated. A system was in place to reward staff for best practice.

Staff feedback on the provider was positive. They told us they felt supported and listened to by the management team. Comments included, “I like working for the company. The management are supportive and approachable. I feel I could ask for anything to support me in my role like different training courses if I wished.” And “I really enjoy working here, care practices are good, and my colleagues and the management team are approachable.”

The provider had effective governance systems and processes in place to monitor the overall safety and quality of the service. Audits included health and safety, infection prevention and control and safe management of medicines. The provider was aware of the regulatory requirements and made statutory notifications to relevant agencies when required to do so. There was a system to manage incidents and learn from them to improve practice.

To ensure people using the service were supported in the most effective way the service worked in partnership with other health and social care organisations and engaged with the local community.

The registered manager and deputy manager told us how they worked with other professionals and received support and guidance when needed. They spoke positively about working in partnership with other health professionals and the local community and how this had led to better outcomes for people.

The feedback from professionals who worked in collaboration with the service was consisently positive.

Partnership working included visits from the community dentist, hairdresser, chiropodist, and other external healthcare professionals. The service was actively involved in the local community through, church services, local schools, pet therapy dog, music and movement and reflexology for 1 to 1 therapy.

The management team undertook quality assurance audits to monitor the overall quality performance of the service. Any areas identified for improvement were addressed and actions taken. There was a clear focus on innovation and improvement and the management team had welcomed ideas to improve the quality of the service. One of these were a ‘you said, we did’ notice board, asking people for their suggestions. We saw requests for, additional activities for movement, more variety of sandwich fillings, increased signage around the service and a better access to the entrance. These had all been addressed.

The registered manager had systems and processes in place to monitor the quality of the service which included overviews of safeguarding concerns, accidents and incidents, and complaints. Any actions taken were clearly logged. and where appropriate information had been shared with the staffing team using as a lesson learned approach. The registered manager told us how, if required, additional training was provided to enhance staff skills.