Compassionate Professional Care

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.

This is the first assessment for this service. This key question has been rated 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 75 (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.

The registered managerhad a clear vision and values for the service. These were centred around providing people with holistic person-centred care and continually involving others who were important to them during their care journey. One relative said, “As a family we were a bit battered down by trying to provide my [family members] personal care. They came in and made that so much better straight away. They take the pressure away and that’s been wonderful for all our family.”

Managers led the service by example setting high standards to the quality of care provided and staff who delivered it. They supported staff by providing their experience and knowledge to assist them in their role. People were provided with a service user guide to fully understand how their expectations could and would be met.

People told us the provider was open, honest and transparent. One told us, “They [managers] are amazing. They have gone above and beyond. They will hold their hands up if things go wrong as they should do.”

The registered manager provided us with a copy of their ‘growth plan’. This contained several areas for increasing the service’s local presence on its current reputation. Most notably in the plan was their aspiration to grow the service in a sustainable way without losing the quality and personalised service they currently provide to people.

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.

The management team were passionate and proud of the service they provided. They were highly motivated in delivering a high-quality service to people.

Managers were skilled and experienced. Their expectations, ethos and approach were embedded into the staff team where a positive culture between them was identified. They were in regular contact with people and relatives in person and by phone and were open and honest when things went wrong.

Managers and staff worked in partnership with each other. Staff said they were supported well by the management team. They said they were always available, and it could rely on them for support and advice at any time. One said, “It’s so easy to contact them if you need to. They listen to you and sort things out quickly if needed.”

Staff were driven and passionate about their roles. It was evident from our discussions with staff there were positive working relations with people and families.

People, relatives and staff were encouraged to complete satisfaction surveys and feedback about service delivery. Where any negative comments were identified, action was taken to resolve them. One family member said, “When we raised a concern they sorted it out quickly for us.”

All the people we spoke with had complete confidence in the management team continually commenting on their professionalism. A family member said, “They are brilliant and work with you. They take on board what you say and concentrate on safety and are always available if you need them."

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard.

Staff said they were well supported and encouraged to share any concerns and make suggestions during staff meetings, handovers, and during supervisions and appraisals. They confirmed the registered manager had an ‘open-door policy’ and made themselves available 24 hours a day if they needed to contact them or another member of the management team. One staff member told us, “I can speak out any time: I’m confident in that. They [managers] would listen to me.”

Staff confirmed they had been trained and understood whistleblowing and had access to the providers policy. They said whilst they had not had cause to use it, they would if they needed to. Staff also knew which key organisations they could contact to raise concerns to.

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.

The registered manager had fostered an inclusive work force. Managers told us they recognised the importance of staffs’ personal lives and how this could impact their working lives. They were supportive of flexible working arrangements where possible to support staff. Policies protected staff’s human rights and working conditions.

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.

There was a strong emphasis upon quality assurance at the service with the effective use of a suite of audits to monitor the service and identify any shortfalls. This ensured the service was continually monitored to ensure sustainability could be maintained.

There were robust communication arrangements in place for sharing and recording information between managers and staff. Information was clear and concise. This supported the overall good governance at the service.

All notifiable incidents which had occurred in the service had been sent to CQC and local authorities appropriately and timely.

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. The service worked well with external professional agencies and within the local community ensuring people had access to other services when they needed them and records we reviewed confirmed this.

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.

Staff were provided with ongoing refresher training which contributed to the ongoing delivery of safe quality of care. Staff told us they were integrated slowly into their roles. They were afforded enough time to complete training and were shadowed by experienced staff until they were assessed as competent to undertake their role independently.

The culture of the service was positive and open. All the comments we received from people, relatives and staff indicated there was freedom to share their views any time, safe in the knowledge they would be listened to and respected for doing so.

The registered manager was passionate about improving the service in tandem with their aim to increase growth. They had compiled a business improvement and growth plan for the forthcoming year.