Belong at Home Domiciliary Care Agency - Wigan & Southport

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 changed to outstanding. This meant service leadership was exceptional and distinctive. Leaders and the culture they created drove and improved high-quality, person-centred care.

This service scored 93 (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 informed the way they recruited and inducted new starters, how they guided people’s development and how people, staff and stakeholders were treated. The values included: “better tomorrow”, which focused on innovation; “stronger together,” which emphasised teamwork; “respect for all,” which fostered inclusivity; “be your best” which encouraged personal growth; and “care from the heart,” which centred on kindness and empathy. It was clear the provider was meeting the values which they had set.

The provider had considered the behaviours which were aligned to the values noted above. By outlining what behaviours were expected, desirable, aspirational and not tolerated, it made the values clearer to understand, less ambiguous and more operational. For example, under the value ‘stronger together’ it was expected staff were team players, that they upheld the standards, they kept people informed and that colleagues could rely on them.

Staff and people were well informed and supported in achieving the vision, values and strategic objectives.

The provider held a ‘Belong Forum’ which was a group for staff to attend quarterly to engage directly with the senior management team about their ideas, experiences and insights. The forum fostered open communication, collaboration and innovation for all staff members, regardless of any protected characteristics.

The registered manager was proud of the culture which had been established within the service, amongst staff. They spoke about how the provider had a real emphasis on a robust induction which prepared staff for the job properly. They emphasised how the staff retention rate was high because staff were generally pleased to work for the provider with some completing more than 30 years.

The provider completed presentations for staff on what it takes to create a positive workplace culture which included definitions, theory and advice for staff on how to bring this to life.

Staff told us how they felt recognised for hard work. Staff were highly motivated and consistently felt well supported by leaders. They had internal ‘colleague of the month’ acknowledgements and were often nominated for care worker awards both internally and externally. A staff member told us, “I love everything about working here, I know when I come to work that I am making a difference to people’s lives.” Staff members consistently told us it was like working in a happy family.

People, staff and the management described a ‘family feel’ about the care which was being provided. We were told how and we saw evidence of how people, staff and families alike (with children included) had attended celebrations such as Christmas parties.

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 provider had a board which included non-executive and executive members with a wide-ranging background of experience in business and care, which ensured the location adhered to the provider’s aims, values and commitment to the people being supported.

Leaders had high levels of credibility. They were regarded as being competent, committed, visible and approachable. A staff member said, “[Registered Manager] is the best manager I have ever had; [they] are so supportive, I feel I could approach [them] with anything.” Leaders had excellent insight and oversight of the service.

The registered manager was an example of how the provider invested in their staff. They had worked for the organisation for 16 years and started as a receptionist, moved over to being a carer and was promoted to senior carer, became a team leader and now, a registered manager.

The registered manager felt well supported by their colleagues and their seniors. They had a robust induction when they started in the role.

The provider was aware of issues within the social care sector regarding staffing levels and invested in their staff to progress to become team leaders and managers. Staff told us how they had been encouraged and supported to attend leadership courses and completed national vocational qualifications.

The provider ensured succession planning was embedded into workforce planning processes, ensuring they were proactive in preparing and retaining talent for the future. The provider used data and insight to identify talent, understand aspirations, and plan who would become the next capable, confident leaders who reflected the diversity of the workforce and communities.

The organisational vision and values were meaningful, and people were at the heart of the service. They were developed, monitored and owned by everyone.

Risk management was consistently professional, proactive and preventative. The provider had an overarching risk register which registered managers reviewed in their meetings with the head of operations. The registered manager ensured there was early identification of risks which was embedded via staff training and reminders within staff meetings, incident reporting was being completed and reviewed in a timely manner, care plans were personalised and up to date and regular communication with the person and their relatives was demonstrated.

People and relatives were aware of who the leaders were in the service. They felt the registered manager was visible and approachable and demonstrated compassion and kindness. A relative said, “[Registered manager] seems to always be available in the office, you can message [them] or call [them] and they will always respond quickly to any concerns.”

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

Staff and leaders acted with openness, honesty, and transparency.

Staff and leaders actively promoted staff empowerment to drive improvement. They encouraged staff to raise concerns and promoted the value of doing so. All staff were confident their voices would be heard. Staff were also familiar with how they could raise concerns if they were about senior management.

There was a culture of speaking up where staff actively raised concerns and those who did were supported, without fear of detriment. For example, in a recent staff meeting staff had raised concerns regarding temporary traffic lights not being taken into consideration regarding travel time and the number of tasks which were required of them on a visit. The provider responded by reviewing travel times and had a plan to condense tasks wherever possible to give more quality time back to the person and carer.

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 ensured there were a wide range of up-to-date policies and procedures including recruitment and staff development and training opportunities which ensured staff and leaders were representative of the population of people using the service.

There was a consensus among all staff of an equitable workplace. Staff were highly motivated.

Staff told us how leaders made reasonable adjustments to ensure they were supported. For example, working hours had been adjusted for 2 carers to ensure they could drop their children off for nursery. Additional support was provided for people with disabilities and reasonable adjustments were considered in collaboration with the person. A staff member with a physical condition, was also supported by ensuring their visits were less demanding physically.

The provider had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance. They used these to manage and deliver high-quality, sustainable care, treatment and support. They always acted on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, and shared this securely with others when appropriate.

The provider had clear roles of responsibilities and roles. There was an operations manager, a registered manager who was also known as the area manager, a team leader, senior members of staff and care staff. Each were knowledgeable about their distinct roles and different accountabilities, and all worked seamlessly together.

The provider operated robust governance and quality assurance systems, combining digital monitoring, real time tracking and regular face-to-face oversight. These systems enabled effective monitoring of care plans, visit compliance and service delivery, with alerts in place to promptly identify and address issues. A programme of scheduled and responsive audits covered areas such as care documentation, medicines management and health and safety, supplemented by observations, spot checks and supervision to support best practice and continuous improvement. Where concerns were identified additional audits and targeted staff coaching were undertaken.

The provider demonstrated strong oversight using a digital dashboard, analysing key data relevant to service safety and performance this included incidents and accidents, leadership responsiveness, care task completion, visit duration and timeliness as well as outcomes from audits and reviews. Performance was measured against clearly defined key performance indicators, with most areas achieving a green rating, indicating consistently high standards.

Call monitoring and audit systems provided detailed insights into care delivery, including punctuality, hours delivered, tasks completed and record keeping. The registered manager reviewed this information regularly, using trend analysis to compare performance over time and identify themes, including the nature and frequency of incidents.

Performance management processes were effective as staff consistently perform their roles in line with best practice. This was evidenced by positive feedback provided by people, no complaints being received, support being delivered on time and for the duration planned and people achieving positive outcomes such as making improvements physically and psychologically and engaging with previously enjoyed pursuits, as outlined previously in the report.

Leaders actively anticipated current and future performance and risks to the quality of the service. A comprehensive risk register was maintained, identifying the key risks associated with the service and detailing existing controls, risk ratings and required actions This was subject to regular review, supporting effective risk management and oversight.

Team meetings were held every 6 months which provided updates on various items including people using the service, staffing, the rostering, medication, safeguarding and key performance indicators.

The provider ensured staff received a weekly newsletter which provided relevant updates about people being supported, provided information on the colleague of the month, who was nominated for future awards and general updates on training and recruitment were outlined. The newsletter indicated what was useful for staff to know, provided praise for excellent performance such as in March 2026 all calls had been recorded with a daily note by staff, and provided reminders of areas that needed improvement. A newsletter was also produced by the head of operations. The most recent newsletter provided information on innovation, discussing the electronic system and shared the survey results.

Information about risk and performance was shared securely and proactively when it is appropriate to do so. There were robust systems for capturing data to provide for relevant data or notifications submission requirements. These requirements were consistently met.

The provider had demonstrated a well-structured contingency plan/procedure ensuring that clear procedures were in place to maintain service continuity during unexpected disruptions such as IT failures and severe adverse weather conditions. The provider had an emergency situations policy and procedure with clear instructions for staff in emergency situations including failure to access the customer’s property, arriving to a person’s property and them being on the floor, staff members not arriving to a 2 assisted call, staff breaking down in the car or if a fire or a burglary has occurred.

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 worked in partnership with others with a focus on delivering care in a way which supported people’s care pathways. For example, the provider worked in partnership with the local hospice, with admiral nurses and the carers centre hosting bi – weekly coffee mornings for people in the community.

The provider developed literature and guidance with Dementia UK. This helped people, their relatives and staff have easy to understand and accessible information to support them to understand these conditions.

Leaders, managers and staff strived for excellence through collaboration and shared practice. The service had a track-record of being an excellent role model for others. The registered manager chaired the registered managers’ network for ‘Skills for Care’. This allowed interactions between other services and looked to ensure services were meeting the regulations set out within the Health and Social Care Act.

The service had a systematic approach to working with other organisations to improve care outcomes. This includes building and maintaining credible, safe and effective data sharing across the system. For example, the provider had access to GP Connect which is a tool which allows different health systems to securely share information between GP’s, hospitals, and other care providers. This meant the provider had access to up-to-date records, including medication lists and any known side effects.

The provider made distinct links within the community to benefit the people they supported. For example, they had made links with a local dance school who came and completed performances for the people supported, of which those receiving homecare attended. Since this performance, the people supported, have enrolled some of their grandchildren into the dance school. The provider has also built a relationship with the local primary school and children recently attended the provider’s ‘villages’, to meet with the people supported and had made them handmade Christmas decorations. The provider held a Christmas fayre and invited people from the local community. The provider sponsored a local children’s football team who proudly wore the name of the provider on their shirts.

The provider had a strong focus on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. They always encouraged creative ways of delivering equality of experience, outcome and quality of life for people. They actively contributed to safe, effective practice and research.

The provider was represented by the head of operations on the department of health and social care provider engagement panel for homecare and extra care commissioning, working alongside national leaders. The panel focused on shaping the future of homecare and extra care commissioning, ensuring the provider influenced national decision making.

The provider was actively involved in research programmes. For example, they were a member of a steering committee for a study which was evaluating the organisational delivery models of homecare. Both the department of health and social care commissioning and the research activity work directly informed the practice for the homecare service. Learning from these forums was shared internally and embedded into service development, care planning and operational decision making to support more person centred and coordinated care, improved continuity and consistency of support, stronger integration with health and community services and positive outcomes that promote independence, wellbeing and quality of life.

The provider used advanced digital care planning software, which provided people and their relatives real time access to care plans and scheduling information, so they were always kept informed. The provider ensured this was not merely a way of digitising paperwork, but instead improved person-centred care, safety and governance. We saw how leaders used the digital system to identify themes, trends and patterns for concern within people’s care and how these were addressed swiftly. The system was used for auditing purposes and made it easier for leaders to have oversight of key performance indicators being achieved by staff. Person centred care was improved by the software. For example, people and relatives could contact the service leaders to inform them if care plans or daily notes had been written incorrectly and could inform staff and leaders of areas which required further detail, including life history sections.

The provider understood the importance of ensuring strong external relationships were in place which supported improvement and innovation. For example, they had access to GP connect which enabled better decision making and they had access to Admiral nurses for people with a diagnosis of dementia.

Staff and leaders had a good understanding of how to make improvements happen. The provider had robust governance systems to have an excellent oversight in measuring outcomes and ensuring safe care for people.

The provider had processes in place which ensured learning occurred following incidents, accidents and complaints. Leaders saw learning from safety events or complaints as an opportunity to develop.

The provider shared good practice when it was identified. For example, a staff member on a social visit had been with a person for a considerable amount of time and had documented their progress notes in a timeline. The head of operations observed this and shared this with staff as an exemplar of how to record notes.

The provider encouraged staff to speak up with ideas for improvement and innovation via various forums and invested time to listen and engage. This included supervisions, appraisals, team meetings and provider forums.