Oaklands (Essex)

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 did not look at all quality statements for well-led at this assessment. This rating uses some scores from the previous assessment. At the last assessment in June 2021 the provider was rated requires improvement for well-led. At this assessment the provider remains as requires improvement for the key question of well-led. Systems and processes were not effective to ensure good governance and oversight. Legal requirements were not consistently met, such as the systematic failure to submit statutory notifications. However, the provider was committed to driving improvement at the location and had put an action plan in place before our assessment. There was no registered manager in post at the time of our assessment. The provider had appointed a turnaround manager to manage the service and was in the process of recruiting as part of their commitment to improve governance and oversight.

This service scored 54 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

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 reported that there had been a lot of management changes, and this had been unsettling for them. One staff member said, “All the change is frustrating.” Despite this, staff were confident in the turnaround manager and felt supported. A stakeholder said, “I would say unequivocally that the home feels most settled with the most recent manager. It is definitely calmer, with the whole team seeming more purposeful.” A member of the leadership team said, “We are looking for a higher calibre of home manager for this service and coming from a home with no compliance and governance concerns. We have increased the salary twice to try to attract the right candidate.”

Systems were in place to promote a positive culture, transparency, learning and improvement, however these systems need to be embedded. The provider was in the process of recruiting a new manager and at the time of our assessment there was no registered manager. The turnaround manager had a service improvement plan to address the failure of submitting statutory notifications. The improvement plan included, reporting safeguarding concerns and submit statutory notifications. These are notifications the provider must make to the CQC for certain issues such as safeguarding concerns or serious injuries. The turnaround manager has the support of the quality team and senior management team. There has been clear improvements to governance and oversight systems since the turnaround manager has been in the role. Such as, submitting safeguarding and statutory notifications in retrospect for those not previously submitted. Care plans and risk assessments reviewed and updated and staff feel more supported. The provider needs time to induct a new manager who will apply to become registered with CQC, time to embed clear systems of accountability and good governance and to manage and deliver good quality care that is sustainable.