Blossom Home Care Harrogate & Ripon

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 inspection for this service. This key question has been rated requires improvement. This meant the management and leadership was inconsistent. Leaders and the culture they created did not always support the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care.

The service was in breach of the legal regulation in relation to governance at the service.

This service scored 62 (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 provider and registered manager demonstrated a commitment to providing people with person centred care and support.

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.

During the inspection, we found the provider and registered manager to be open and honest. They responded immediately to any issues. A staff member said, “They are a good company to work for and they do try to help.”

People told us they felt the service was well managed. People said, “Things are dealt with really efficiently” and "They always try their best." We received mixed feedback about communication with managers. One person told us, "They are so good at communication", whilst another said, “I think that could be better communication and it could be run more efficiently.” People said they would recommend the agency, with many expressing deep appreciation for the support provided. One person said, “I would recommend them."

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

Following staff feedback the provider was introducing different methods for staff to use to raise any ideas or concerns. This included a confidential suggestion box and a member of staff who could listen to staff concerns confidentially and then share with managers. Staff had voted for the person chosen to do this.

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 provider did not have clear responsibilities, roles and good governance. They did not always act on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes.

There was a range of quality monitoring and auditing in place. However, these were not sufficiently robust and had not identified the concerns found during the inspection or ensured appropriate action was taken.

Audits and reviews of care records were completed during reviews, spot checks, and file reviews. Audits and reviews of care records had not identified the lack of risk assessments or inconsistencies. During inspection, we found gaps in a person’s medicines records which were flagged red on the providers electronic records system. However, this had not been found at audit or explored prior to our inspection. Following the site visit, the provider confirmed that the medicine had been administered, but the gaps was due to a technical issue. Oversight records relating to recruitment files did not have the correct requirements listed regarding employment history.

During the inspection, we found the provider and registered manager to be open, honest and eager to improve. They responded immediately to any issues we raised with them and following the inspection they put in place processes to start to rectify the issues found.

Staff told us they could contact managers when they needed to including outside office hours via the on-call system. One staff member said, “There is an on-call line that you can call anytime.”

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 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.

There was a positive approach towards learning and ongoing development of the service.