Britannia 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.

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 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 service had been designed and developed with the needs of a diverse cohort in mind, closely linked to local demographics. The service was also strong in terms of recruitment of and development in partnership with people from a range of backgrounds from the local community. Staff were able to tell us how the provider involved them in developing new ideas and programmes to benefit people as well as their colleagues. The service had a mission statement on display “Providing diverse care for diverse communities” and lived up to it. Staff were able to articulate what this meant well, including their roles and responsibilities.

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 relatives all said they felt comfortable speaking with managers and gave examples of when they had raised issues.

Staff also told us they felt comfortable talking to managers and there was strong evidence they were open to ideas and challenge. The registered manager had worked at the service for several years and been developed to take on the role. As such, the staff were confident the registered manager had a good understanding of their roles, as they had worked alongside them throughout.

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

People living at the service and staff all said they felt able to speak up. Information on safeguarding and whistle blowing was on display in staff and public areas. The complaints process was explained and understood and relatives said they felt comfortable raising any issues with the manager. Lessons learned from any complaints were shared with staff in team meetings and where more appropriate one to one.

The provider strongly valued diversity in their workforce. They had an inclusive and fair culture which had improved equality and equity for people who worked for them.

The service mission statement “Providing diverse care for diverse communities” was lived by the provider including in the recruitment, development and involvement of staff. Staff were from a diverse range of backgrounds, as diverse as the cohort of people living in the service. Staff career development was particularly strong, for example the registered manager had developed from a care assistant role through to management and was supported to gain relevant qualifications through external providers. This was not an isolated case, with other staff telling us about their experiences and personal development goals.

The staff retention figure was high, with most having worked for the service for many years. Induction processes demonstrated a respect for diversity and inclusion, as did all policies relating to the workplace. Staff gave us examples of when they needed to change shift patterns or take leave because of family responsibilities, and they told us these requests were treated fairly. People were offered a range of shift patterns to suit them and had the opportunity to discuss personal development in regular 1 to 1 meetings. However, people said they did not have to wait until formal meetings to raise issues, as the management team were available and open to discussion at any time.

The provider’s future plans placed an emphasis on making the workplace even better for staff, including better use of technology to streamline accurate care recording, improved space for training activities and partnership working to enable further career development for staff.

The provider had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and 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 were aspects of medicines governance that required improvement, but the provider took steps to address shortfalls.

Robust systems were in place regarding confidentiality of personal data, with best practice processes applied. Policies and processes regarding confidentiality were understood by staff who were able to tell us where they would access them and what was included. Audits around the safety and standard of care took place, with any concerns dealt with immediately with staff then any learning shared at team meetings. The provider and registered manager understood their responsibilities around incident reporting and recording; this was supported by timely notifications made to CQC and other stakeholders.

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

The provider developed strong relationships with cultural, religious and career development partners such as colleges and universities to promote the benefits of diversity in health and social care. These working partnerships provide enrichment for people living at the service and put the service at the heart of the community. One example is how the service works with the local authority and university to provide career development for young people and university students including future care staff, managers and health professionals. This benefited the service as it provided a pipeline of future workers but also benefited people living at the service as they could interact with younger people from a range of backgrounds. These partnerships also benefit the wider social care sector. The partnerships also offer people a wide choice of cultural experiences from choir concerts to access to religious services, as well as the opportunity to enjoy social time with different people. The service was recognised during Bradford’s time as City of Culture in 2025 with its donation of space to create a public park next to the premises.

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. They actively contributed to safe, effective practice and research.

Partnerships with education sector institutions as well as religious and cultural organisations offered opportunities for people living at the service as well as staff at all levels to benefit from learning and innovation. The leadership team benefits from people with backgrounds in business, culture and not for profit sectors to bring together knowledge and improvement methods from outside the care sector. This has influenced the ongoing refurbishment plan along with the open involvement of people living at the service and their relatives. We were able to see a service development plan which integrates staff learning and development, to identify and support emerging future leaders, improvements to the environment as well as people’s rooms and the communal areas.