Everlife (Swindon)

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 requires improvement. At this assessment the rating has changed to good, following improvements around the service’s governance and oversight. 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 79 (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 registered manager informed staff of the company values during their induction process and initial training. They told us, “Our values are being kind and caring, everything we do centres around the customer. We also make it clear to staff the importance of owning up when things go wrong.” The feedback we received from people receiving support indicated staff worked in line with these values.

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 spoke positively about leaders at the service. Comments included, “I contact the office if I have any questions. They know me well. They do have a laugh with me, I get on with all of them” and “I couldn’t get into bed one night, they told me I should have called and they would have come out. That was brilliant to know.”

Leaders had completed training and qualifications relevant to their role. The registered manager was also looking into completing a higher-level safeguarding training course.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. Staff generally felt able to speak up and raise concerns. One staff member commented, “They [leaders] are supportive, I feel I can raise any concerns.”

The registered manager said they encouraged a speak up culture by explaining to staff that mistakes can happen.

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 said they felt well supported and that reasonable adjustments were made. Comments included, “They make adjustments around any medical appointments if needed” and “I had [some time off work] and they asked if there's anything they could do, they said we're here for you.”

The registered manager also gave examples of how they had adapted the way staff work in line with reasonable adjustments.

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.

There were a range of governance systems in place to monitor the quality of the service. For example, spot checks on care staff, seeking feedback from people, a staff file checklist and the care planning system flagging where there were concerns.

Staff generally felt the service was well managed. For example, staff said people’s care plans were updated and accurate, and staff had access to policies and procedures which were updated and in line with legislation.

The service was sub-contracted from another local provider, who also undertook audits of the service. The manager ensured their rating from their previous inspection was displayed in the office.

Care plan audits had not identified that some risk assessments were not in place. However, the registered manager was responsive to this feedback and a new care planning system was being introduced at the time of the inspection.

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 gave various examples of how they had shared learning with other care providers. For example, they had shared some learning on staffing car insurance with another local provider. The registered manager was a board member of a local care provider forum. This group works with local, regional and national partners and commissioners to improve the standing of care providers in the planning and delivery of care services. The registered manager commented, “I am a representative for domiciliary care on [this group]. If any providers have questions they come to me.”

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.

As the registered manager was a board member for a local care provider forum, they regularly attended conferences. They said they had learnt a lot from a guest speaker whose husband had dementia. The registered manager also attended the ‘Skills for Care’ meetings to promote learning and development. This demonstrated they were committed to sharing learning with other local providers and wider services.

The registered manager was also introducing a new care planning software which utilised artificial intelligence. Following some of the feedback from this inspection, such as feedback around the use of blood thinners, the registered manager said they would liaise with the new care planning software to see if it could be flagged on the system where people were on blood thinning medicines. This demonstrated the registered manager was committed to finding new and more effective systems and processes.