Poplars Care Centre

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

There were systems and processes in place to ensure the service was well governed. The quality of care was monitored, and improvements were made if any shortfalls were identified. The registered manager had the skills they needed to manage the service and oversee the delivery of good quality care. There was a clear vision for the service which staff understood and supported. There were regular staff meetings where staff contributed and could share their views. There was a diverse staff team and diversity was valued. The service worked in partnership with other services to ensure people had access to the services they need and improve outcomes for people. The provider engaged in innovation and was working to drive forward improvements including through using technology.

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.

Staff understood the providers vision and values and how the registered manager was working to achieve these. Staff told us they were happy in their role and were well-motivated, this was reflected in a positive atmosphere at the service. Staff meetings included staff views and feelings and were two-way discussions. Staff said, “We discuss anything, for example any maintenance problems, any changes in someone’s need, and everyone is encouraged to attend and contribute, night staff, everyone….”.

The provider had a clear vision for the service based on empathy, choice, dignity and staff going above and beyond to provide support for people. The registered manager supported this vision and promoted a positive staff culture. The provider celebrated and rewarded staff who clearly demonstrated they were meeting the provider's core values. Where staff had gone above and beyond the registered manager had ensured staff contribution was recognised. The provider had also introduced long service awards to recognise and celebrate staff who had remained with the service for a long period of time. Staff met daily to discuss any changes to peoples support or other issues which they needed to be aware of. The registered manager reminded and reinforced the vision for the service at staff meetings. For example, staff were reminded to focus on engagement with people and working as a team. Clinical governance meetings were held which reviewed practice to ensure staff were providing the right support for people. This included reviewing areas such as any falls or pressure sores which had occurred. Staff at the meeting also reviewed the use of as and when medicines which alter people’s moods to ensure these are not being overused or used inappropriately.

Staff were positive about the management of the service. Staff told us the management had changed things in the right direction. One staff said, “I feel clinically comfortable and secure now…. Things are in place now. People are respected and their dignity is very important, and you can see that people are happy here.” Staff also told us that the staff team were more settled now and there was less need for agency use than there had been prior to the registered manager commencing in post.

The registered manager had worked in care for about 20 years. They had started in care as a care worker and worked through the roles to deputy manager and then registered manager. They had the skills and qualifications they needed to undertake the role. They had a clear focus on providing good care, ensuring people had quality of life and were respected. They told us, “It’s a huge responsibility, people are trusting you with their lives. I want people to have the best quality care they can receive.” The registered manager was well supported and encouraged by the provider.

Staff had opportunities to speak up and told us they felt they were listened too. One staff said, “There is a good team spirit here and I would feel listened to and taken seriously.” The registered manager and nominated individual both told us they welcomed staff speaking up and raising concerns. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. The registered manager said, “I encourage staff to let me know so we can address things when they are manageable.”

There were systems in place to ensure staff, people and their relatives could raise issues if they had any concerns. There was a confidential phone line staff could use if they had concerns about the service. There was an annual survey for both staff and people. Actions were taken as a result of feedback from surveys. For example, staff indicated they didn’t feel very connected with the wider organisation, so a newsletter was put in place for staff to share news and stories with the providers other services. There were regular staff meetings and staff could speak to the registered manager about any concerns. Staff also had regular support and supervision meetings with their line manager where they could raise issues if they needed or wanted to. If people had complaints, they were responded to, and the registered manager understood the importance of apologising and being open and transparent when things went wrong.

Staff were positive about how well they were supported and valued as a diverse workforce. One staff said, “Here is very multi-cultural, staff wise, and I am so happy here. We are all here because we want to be here and love what we are doing.” There was a focus on staff well-being. One staff said, “Every month I have supervision, It’s a discussion, how are you, have you eaten, let’s make a plan of what will help you …for example, I felt we were slow in completing tasks so we looked at how to resolve this, whether we needed more staff or change the way staff worked in order to complete things better.”

There had been a focus on building and strengthening team work to improve things for staff and people. This included cultural days where staff celebrated and shared their culture. Staff had completed training on equality and diversity. They had also completed best practice training in supporting people with a learning disability. Any discrimination concerns would be investigated by the registered manager and provider to ensure staff were well protected.

There was a clear governance structure in place to ensure the registered manager was supported in their role. Staff from the provider visited the service and told us they spoke to both staff, people and visitors when they did so. The nominated individual said, “Last time I spoke to the singer who comes to the home regularly, they confirmed that the registered manager had got people more engaged with activities in the home, it’s really helpful getting this sort of feedback.” There was also a formal process in place to check the quality of the service and the operations manager completed a regular audit on behalf of the provider to ensure practice was meeting quality standards. The registered manager told us after audits there was a meeting between the team and the auditors to go through any feedback and if there are any lessons learnt.

There was a system of quality checks in place to maintain and improve standards within the home. For example, the last assessment had found care planning had improved. There was a clear system in place to audit care plans to ensure they provided the information staff needed to support people safely. The registered manager regularly reviewed trends of incidents and safety in the home and discussed these with staff to ensure everything was being done to reduce risk. For example, staff reviewed if there had been any infections in the home such as urine infections (UTI’s) and how they were encouraging fluids in different ways to reduce the risk of UTI’s occurring such as offering people high-water content fruits or ice-lollies.

Feedback from people was that they were well cared for and supported to access medical care if this was needed. This included dentists, opticians and specialist healthcare when this support was needed. Relatives told us people's health needs were met, one relative said, “They look after [my relative] well.”

The registered manager told us they worked in partnership with a number of services and that the GP either visited or called the service weekly to enable staff to raise any health concerns that needed to be addressed. Staff had a good understanding of people’s healthcare needs and the support that had been prescribed for them by healthcare professionals.

Feedback from partners was positive. Once social care professional told us they were, ‘Satisfied that the home provides good quality care and that there is a culture of continuous improvement.’

The service worked in partnership to improve outcomes for people. For example, where there were concerns about people’s swallowing, they were referred to the speech and language team who provide support and assess swallowing risks. The service also worked in partnership with organisations where there was a focus on improving staff skills, retaining staff in the care industry and building leaders of the future. Staff were supported to access accredited training and apprenticeships to help them build their skills and develop a career in care.

The service had focused on making improvements. The registered manager told us, “Care planning is ongoing improvement – if we get it wrong it affects the residents. We can never stop making improvements and implementing best practice.” Auditing and quality assurance had also improved, and systems were now in place to ensure concerns were identified and addressed.

The provider was engaging in learning and innovation in order to improve the standards of care provided and people’s experience. For example, there had been a recent trial using artificial intelligence (AI) to identify if people might be in pain, where the person might not be able to express this themselves. The nominated individual told us as a result of the pilot they had seen a reduction in falls and people demonstrating they were upset through how they behaved and the use of AI to help recognise pain was to be rolled out across their services. There had also been a review of bed rail use within the provider to challenge services to review if their use was still the least restrictive option available or if there were now better alternatives to keep people safe. A new system was also being introduced at the service to enable staff to arrange leave and check the rota remotely. The system informs all staff about gaps in the rota so staff all have the opportunity to pick up more shifts where they want to and reduce the risk of any perceived unfairness.