Lovehands Care Services Ltd

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

Well-led – this means we looked for evidence that service leadership, management and governance assured high-quality, person-centred care; supported learning and innovation; and promoted an open, fair culture.

At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good. This meant the service was consistently managed and well-led. Leaders and the culture they created promoted high-quality, person-centred care.

This service scored 71 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The provider had a shared vision, strategy and culture. This was based on transparency, equity, equality and human rights, diversity and inclusion, engagement, and understanding challenges and the needs of people and their communities. Leaders described Lovehands Care Services Ltd as having compassion and flexibility at the heart of everything they did. They said, “We sit down with people and look at how we can help, what we can do and what we can be flexible over.” Feedback from people confirmed they experienced a compassionate and flexible service. Leaders were committed to investing in staff training and development and held regular meetings, supervisions and in-person workshop events for all staff to attend. People valued the staff who provided their care. One person told us, “All the carers have been great. I feel Lovehands have quality carers.”

The provider had inclusive leaders at all levels who understood the context in which they delivered care, treatment and support and embodied the culture and values of their workforce and organisation. Leaders had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively. They did so with integrity, openness and honesty. People and staff spoke highly of how the service was managed. One relative told us, “I find my experience with Lovehands to be very satisfactory.” A member of staff said, “I enjoy working there, the people are well-cared for, and the staff are kind.” Another staff member said, “I give it 10 out of 10 as the managers always listen to us, they are open for any communication, they pick up calls at any time of day, carry out regular supervisions to be sure we are happy, and clients are taken care of.” Leaders kept up to date with good practice and were involved in networking groups to help share updates and developments in the care sector. Leaders involved staff in the developments of the service and listened to their views.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. Staff felt able to speak up easily about any worries or concerns. One staff member said, “It’s easy to communicate with managers, they will talk to you anytime on the on-call number and help you with any problems. Staff were aware of the ‘Whistleblowing’ policy which is in place to protect staff speaking up about any safety concerns.

The provider valued diversity in their workforce. They worked towards an inclusive and fair culture by improving equality and equity for people who worked for them. Leaders spoke about how they supported international staff and welcomed them into their team, valuing their skills and experience. Baby shower events were organised when staff took maternity leave and flexible work options were put in place to help staff manage their work life balance.

The provider had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance. They used these to manage and deliver good quality, sustainable care, treatment and support. They acted on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, and shared this securely with others when appropriate.

Systems were in place to check on the quality and safety of services and these were effective in most areas. However, further oversight was required to ensure incidents were assessed in a timely manner to see if they met the criteria for a CQC notification and for the accuracy of care plans and some records. Leaders had taken action to start making these improvements during our inspection.

The provider understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, so services worked seamlessly for people. They shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement.

Partners told us Lovehands Care Services Ltd worked well in partnership with them. A social care professional told us communication worked well. They said, “I get a quick response whenever I make an enquiry and feel that the team are willing to discuss how they can help in situations, often at short notice.”

The provider focused on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. They encouraged creative ways of delivering equality of experience, outcome and quality of life for people.

Leaders had a service improvement plan in place. This identified planned improvements in a number of areas across the service, including staff training, recruitment, staff support and obtaining feedback. This helped the service to aim towards continuous improvement.