Alpenbest

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 outstanding. At this assessment the rating has changed to 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 68 (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.

Staff placed importance on providing person-centred care and they told us this was at the centre of their values and the provider’s vision. Staff told us they were trained by the provider to understand the provider’s vision and values and provide care in line with these.

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.

At the time of our assessment there was not a registered manager in place. However, the new manager had been in post since January 2025 and they had applied to become the registered manager. They had worked with the provider for over 10 years and had progressed up through the business. They had a good relationship with their colleagues and staff felt comfortable speaking openly with them. A representative from a partner agency working with the service told us, “The manager is very responsive and approachable.”

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. A whistleblowing policy was in place. This identified the freedom to speak up guardian. However, the freedom to speak up guardian was the branch manager which is not in line with best practice and would not be able to fulfil the role of being an independent person to support care workers to speak up when other communication routes via their manager were not effective. The management team took on board this comment and said they would discuss it with the wider provider group.

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.

Staff from all nationalities were welcomed at the service. There was a diverse, multi-cultural staff team. Policies and procedures were in place to ensure staff were respected and able to work in a supportive environment that was free from discrimination.

The provider did not always have clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability or good governance. They did not always act on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, or share this securely with others when appropriate.

Several governance systems were in place. One of these was to track complaints, safeguarding concerns, accident and incidents. We saw this system was not always effective in ensuring compliance with statutory processes. We saw 1 safety matter had not been appropriately reported to the local authority safeguarding team and there were 3 incidents that were not appropriately reported to the CQC in line with the provider’s regulatory duties. The manager told us this had been an oversight and they had not stayed up to date with reviewing information inputted on this system. They assured us retrospective notifications would be submitted so accurate records could be maintained.

Additional systems were in place to review the quality of care and monitor staff compliance with key processes. This included regular spot checks, review of care records, monitoring of staff compliance with call times, staff training and support structures. Medicines administration audits were undertaken to ensure staff received their medicines and staff followed safe practice. There were structures in place to ensure local and regional management teams could access this data and, if required, follow up to ensure compliance with key performance indicators. A service improvement plan was in place to detail any areas of improvement required and track progress. A representative from a partner agency working with the service told us, “Alpenbest are keen for joint working and always keep the service user at the centre of their focus.They have a good reporting system and consider recommendations for improvement where possible.”

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.

Staff worked in partnership with people and their relatives. There was regular communication, telephone monitoring and quality monitoring to obtain people’s views and experiences of care. Staff were also asked for their views through formal and informal processes, including supervision sessions, satisfaction surveys and team meetings. A care worker told us, “People in the office are very friendly. They always listen and give encouragement when needed. I feel valued and never got ignored in any situation.” Another care worker said, “The service regularly asks for views to help improve the care provided.”

Staff also worked well with other health and social care professionals. Feedback we received from a representative included, “Our relationships are open, transparent, and effective and if there are any operational issues that arise (which are rare), Alpenbest are always ready to work collaboratively with us to identify solutions.”

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 drive to continuously learn and develop the service. They were involved in several initiatives developed locally and with other health and social care professionals. Staff had started to work with the local authority to pilot the ‘blue bag’ scheme, which will support people when transitioning from home to hospital. This pilot was in its infancy and we will review the impact of this project at our next assessment. The provider had also introduced the use of IT systems to transcribe assessment visits, which meant staff were able to more clearly record people’s support needs and ensure more detailed information was captured that reflected people’s voices. Again, this project was new and had not yet been evaluated. Another new project that had been implemented was for those people receiving a reablement support. Their daily support plans had been restructured to reflect the goals set by the person and their occupational therapist with the aim of enabling them to be more independent and regain their skills and strength quicker.

Representatives from partner agencies told us staff were “open” and “enthusiastic” when working with them on new projects and there was a “collaborative” approach to service development. The impact of all the new pilots and projects will be evaluated at their next assessment when they have had time to be fully implemented.