Staff and residents at Briardene Care Home in Billingham, Durham are celebrating their recent Care Quality Commission inspection rating; they scored an overall ‘outstanding’ for being a safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led service.
Currently only 3.3 per cent of England’s care homes, domiciliary care agencies and hospitals have an overall ‘outstanding’ rating, and Briardene has been ranked among the best in the country for the quality of the services it provides.
The CQC inspected the home on the 10 and 14 January 2019 (the report was released on 6 March 2019) and rated the home, run by Barchester Healthcare, as ‘outstanding” in four key assessment areas (‘caring’, ‘well-led’, ‘responsive’ and ‘effective’) and ‘good’ in one (‘safe’).
The report stated that the home was rated outstanding because: “Without exception, staff and management worked in a way that put the needs of people living at Briardene first. Care plans were written in an extremely sensitive and thoughtful way. Staff knew every person they cared for in depth, what was important to them and the best way to provide care to them."
The report continued by stating: “We observed care being delivered in a way that truly reflected the provider's values of respect, integrity, responsibility, passion and empowerment. The ethos of putting the person at the centre of everything was driven from the top.
"The registered manager and deputy led by example and there was a pride and passion for the home that was reflected in everything the management team did. This in turn inspired staff to do their best to deliver the extremely high standard of care that was observed throughout the inspection.”
The report also went on to say “Feedback from people and their relatives was all extremely positive. People were cared for by a dedicated staff team who were proud of the work they did. Staff were very responsive to people, reading body language and responding accordingly to minimise any distress.
"Relatives were made to feel very welcome when visiting and told us how staff also did their very best to support the whole family not just this individual. Relatives all felt very involved in their loved ones' care and spoke very highly of the management of the service.”
To celebrate the rating, which is the sixth outstanding rating for the company overall, CEO of Barchester Healthcare Dr Pete Calveley visited the home to thank each member of the team personally, and presented each one with a £500 gift voucher in appreciation of their hard work.
On the day of the visit, June Hoggart, the general manager of Briardene, said: “We are ecstatic! Our team at Briardene work so hard to provide the highest possible standard of care for our residents and we are so delighted to be recognised for our work by the CQC, and to be rated ‘outstanding’ overall.
“I’m very proud of the whole team who share the same values, and dedicate their lives to the people we care for to contribute for an overall better life for each and every one.”
