Highfields Nursing Home

People and those important to them were supported to understand safeguarding and how to raise concerns when they didn’t feel safe. Staff understood their duty to protect people from abuse and knew how and when to report any concerns they had to managers. When concerns had been raised, managers reported these promptly to the relevant agencies and worked proactively with them, to make sure timely action was taken to safeguard people from further risk. There were enough staff to support people with their needs, although we observed a poor lunchtime experience where people were placed at risk of having unmet needs. The management team were immediately responsive to our concerns, and ensured they reviewed the staffing allocation and timing of the lunch service to rectify this. Safety risks to people were managed well. Managers assessed and reviewed safety risks to people and made sure people, and those important to them, were involved in making decisions about how they wished to be supported to stay safe. Managers reviewed staffing levels regularly to make sure there were always enough suitably skilled and experienced staff on duty. Staff received relevant training to meet the range of people’s needs at the service. Staff received support through supervision and appraisal to support their continuous learning and improve their working practice. Managers made sure recruitment checks were undertaken on all staff to ensure only those individuals that were deemed suitable and fit, would be employed to support people at the service.

Peoples needs and rights were supported. People’s care and treatment was effective due to their health, care, well-being, and communication needs being assessed with them. People’s care plans are kept up to date with any assessments completed in a timely manner. Staff were aware people’s preferences and respected these in a person-centred way. People were aware of their rights around care and treatment. Staff showed a good knowledge of the mental capacity act, including capacity and consent. Staff were aware of how to support people living with fluctuating capacity.

There were clear and effective governance, management and accountability arrangements. Staff understood their role and responsibilities. Managers accounted for the actions, behaviours and performance of staff. The systems to manage current and future performance and risks to the quality of the service took a proportionate approach to managing risk that allows new and innovative ideas to be tested within the service. Data or notifications were consistently submitted to external organisations as required. There were robust arrangements for the availability, integrity and confidentiality of data, records and data management systems. Information is used effectively to monitor and improve the quality of care. Leaders implement relevant or mandatory quality frameworks, recognised standards, best practices or equivalents to improve experiences and outcomes for people using services.