St Georges

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

The registered manager had the necessary skills, qualifications and experience to manage this type of service. Effective governance arrangements supported by robust systems and processes in place provided full oversight of all aspects of the service. People, their relatives and staff said the service was well managed, commenting positively on the visibility and accessibility of the registered manager. They had all been consulted and involved in bringing about recent improvement made at the service. There was evidence of a positive culture in and people spoke openly and freely about their experiences. The service worked in partnership with other professionals and organisations to ensure people received joined up care, were treated in line with best practice and experienced good outcomes.

This service scored 68 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Through discussions held with the registered and regional manager we found them to be open, honest and transparent and supportive of the inspection process. Access to all records was made available. People and staff were encouraged to participate in the inspection. We received positive feedback from everyone we spoke with, and all stated they would recommend the service. Observations during the inspection enabled us to report people and staff were treated equally and fairly. Staff told us the registered manager had an open-door policy to ensure they could freely approach them and raise any concerns. We found no evidence of concerns regarding poor culture at the service.

The registered manager supported and communicated effectively with people and those most important to them throughout their care journey. Feedback we received confirmed this. Staff had received training in equality and diversity. Regular feedback was gathered from people, relatives and staff and regular spot checks of staff practice and competence were routinely undertaken.

Staff described the leadership of the service in a positive way. The registered manager was approachable and always available to them should they need assistance or support. Throughout the inspection we saw evidence of a caring and person centred approach and culture that was embedded, delivered by courteous and considerate staff, which enhanced people's daily lives. The registered manager had acquired the skills, knowledge and experience and utilised this to ensure the service was lead effectively. They led by example and set the standard and expectations of what good care looks like which they said 'people had a right to receive'. One staff member told us, "The difference between the previous and current management team is like 'night and day'. It is a 100% more stable now and managed well."

Whilst the registered manager was relatively new in post they had created stable leadership within the service. They knew people and their staffing team well. Regular staff and residents and relative meetings were held. They engaged with people, staff and relatives openly and honestly. The registered manager was experienced and suitably qualified to undertake their role.

Staff told us they understood and would use policies in place such as 'whistleblowing' to aid them to speak up if they needed to raise concerns. However, they were all confident if they had any concerns they could openly report these to the registered manager without fear of reprisal. One staff member said, "I know where to go to report concerns if my manager didn't respond to me; local authority, CQC, police, but they are so approachable and treat everyone fairly i know they would listen and do the right thing." The registered manger told us they welcomed and advocated people to speak up and raise concerns if they had any.

Thorough and detailed policies and procedures to support staff to speak up and raise concerns were in place. Staff had been provided with access to up to date policies to matters relating to safeguarding and whistleblowing concerns. There were effective management systems in place to oversee any reports of this nature, and respond promptly to any 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.

Staff told us they enjoyed working at the service, and it was managed well. They paid particular attention to the improvements made by the current registered manager since they took up their post. They said they were able to freely ask them questions, raise concerns and felt overall well supported. One staff member told us, "I like the fact that if we are unexpectedly short staffed the manager supports the staff by doing the care role too."

The registered manager had oversight of the service and had the support of a regional manager to oversee their management of the service and provide assistance when needed. The registered manager completed regular checks and a suite of audits on all aspects of the service was in place. Where audits identified shortfalls action was taken to rectify these. The regional manager reviewed these audits frequently. People’s care records were stored securely, and plans were in place to digitise records in thenear future. Important messages and changes to people's needs were communicated to staff through at the start and end of their shifts and more widely in team meetings, which all staff had access to the records of in their absence.

We did not look at Partnerships and communities during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

The registered manager had worked hard to improve the quality of care and experience of people living and staff working at the service having taken up their role recently. They told us, "Whilst there are more things I want to do I am confident the service is in a better place than it was when I arrived." Feedback we received from staff confirmed the registered manager's view on improvements made. Three staff members told us collectively, 'There have been improvements in how the service has been managed and staffed in the last 12 months'. They also added they were 'more settled at work, morale was good and, there is a clear team ethic in place now.'

The registered manager consulted and requested feedback from people, relatives and staff to enable them to make improvements to the service. The process of consultation and action taken from the feedback received had brought about the required improvement and had raised the overall satisfaction level of the survey. This was demonstrated in the latest survey results. The registered manager understood their responsibility in relation to duty of candour. They informed the relevant bodies of all incidents, accidents and complaints and responded to these in a timely manner.