Alina Homecare Horsham

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 the same. 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 82 (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 very clear shared vision, strategy and culture. This was based on transparency, equity, equality and human rights, diversity and inclusion, engagement, and an exceptional understanding of the challenges and the needs of people and their communities. The provider’s values were ‘Quality, Integrity and Respect’. The Quality director told us how the provider supported the services, “The registered manager and office manager are comfortable to call any one of us and get support from the team. Within the team, growing the business with the family feel is important”. This culture and values were discussed at recruitment, taught at induction and clearly embedded and practiced by staff. People were provided with a high standard of care from a motivated staffing team. There was a strong culture of inclusivity of people and staff due to open channels of communication and requests for feedback. People were consistently satisfied with the service they received and were given ample chances to provide feedback about their care. One person said, “It’s nice. They are good. I’m very happy with them. I would hate to have to change them. They are here helping you, they are always on time”. Family members were consistently positive about the service and in particular the registered manager. One told us, “I think it is well managed, because of their responses. They deliver what they say they will deliver”. Another said, “Out of 10, I would give it nine or ten. It’s based on mainly the [registered manager] and the carers are such special people”. The registered manager took pride in their work and made continual improvements to lead a strong team. This was evident throughout our inspection.

The provider had exceptionally 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 always did so with integrity, openness and honesty. The registered manager was highly regarded by all people and staff. We received consistently positive comments about their leadership and approachability including, “Very, very well managed. We are very pleased with everything, no complaints whatsoever”. And, “They have been understanding. It’s been great, it’s taken a weight off my shoulders, there has been no issues that I’m aware of”. The head of operations also visited and called frequently to provide support when needed. Managers meetings were held with other managers of the provider’s services to share good practices and learn lessons. The nominated individual ensured they remained involved with the service. Staff spoke of the support they received from the provider and registered manager and told us they could give suggestions and were listened to. Comments included, “The company are constantly improving and striving to be better. We are informed of any feedback or complaints so we improve the care we provide. All our leaders have a good understanding, knowledge of our roles as they do visits to our clients. Our team is always communicating and sharing knowledge. They all lead by example. Our manager/ team offer no end of support regardless to what that maybe”.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. Staff had a clear policy to follow to enable them to speak up. Staff received regular supervision and consistently told us they felt confident to speak up about any concerns they had. One staff member told us, “We are always encouraged to share ideas or asked if we feel anything can be improved. We are listened to and made to feel our opinions matter”. Another told us, “We share our ideas about improvement or innovation through on and off-line meetings. Leaders encourage us and are open minded to hearing any feedback and ideas we have”.

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. There was a diverse range of backgrounds, skills and experience within the workforce. The service had an open, inclusive recruitment procedure. The provider described how they recruited staff based on their compassionate natures, skills and experience. All staff said they felt happy working for Alina Homecare Horsham.

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. Quality assurance processes were in place and were generally effective in identifying areas where improvements could be made. The registered manager conducted regular audits to ensure the quality of service being delivered to people. Staff meetings were held. One staff member told us, “I have regular work checks and supervision, I can review my performance if I need to improve. During the supervision, I set my goals and have a discussion with the manager. We receive weekly update emails from the manager every week.” The registered manager understood their duty to notify CQC of events within the service. They demonstrated and evidenced their understanding to be open, honest and apologized when things went wrong. The service development plan was a working document, the provider measured the service’s compliance against CQC’s single assessment framework to continually improve and develop.

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 registered manager had built strong connections within the community. The registered manager spoke of the value they placed in links with the community and told us how their work had supported one person to remain at home, “We advocated for [additional support] and now [person] links in with the local church and the vicar and they have got life around them in their community and have remained in their own home for nearly a year now linking with neighbours as well”. They had also completed work with the Alzheimer’s Society about connecting people with resources within the community including contact with pat dogs. The examples they have shared have helped to prevent social isolation.

The provider focused on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local systems. They encouraged creative ways of delivering equality of experience, outcome and quality of life for people. They actively contributed to safe, effective practice. The provider and registered manager demonstrated an open transparent approach to learning and were keen to develop the business with a reputation based on outcomes and the quality of life for both people they supported and staff. The registered manager told us how lessons learnt from an incident had been reviewed by the team, managers and senior leaders at an organisational level and had resulted in changes in Moving and Handling practices throughout the whole organisation. Staff gave examples of the focus on continuous learning in operation at the service. One told us, “We previously had a safeguarding incident where we were given feedback on how changes could be implemented to prevent the incident from happening again. We discussed the consequences when policies, procedures and training were not followed. That was a lesson learnt for the whole team”. And “The feedback of our service users is very important to us. We use it to improve our quality of care”. Feedback from people, their relatives confirmed Alina Homecare Horsham was having a positive impact on them, one relative told us, “I think it’s very good. I’ve never thought once in any way; do I want to review who is providing my [loved ones] care. They have good carers; they are on time and they help me be confident at this difficult time”.