Lifeways Community Care (Exeter)

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 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 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 staff team understood the importance of working towards a common goal. The provider promoted organisation values, for example, one value was for staff to be caring. We saw examples of how staff could demonstrate this value in their everyday work. Staff told us there was an open and honest culture within the organisation. Staff shared the organisations values and direction.

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. Everyone we spoke with told us they felt the organisation was inclusive and led from the front. The leadership team had the skills and experience to lead effectively. Leaders understood the challenges faced by the people they were supporting. Leaders had a clear vision for the services they managed and understood how to drive improvement.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. Everyone we spoke with told us they would speak up and, if needed, would go outside of the organisation. There were whistle blowing procedures in place to guide staff. Staff had regular meetings with managers and could raise issues of concern at any time. Staff told us they were not afraid to speak up as the culture was open and honest.

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 we spoke with told us the organisation was good to work for, and they felt well supported. Staff told us they did not have any concerns with bullying or harassment within the organisation. Staff told us they could progress within the organisation as there were opportunities for example, to move into a management role.

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 shared several examples of how they checked all aspects of care delivery. There was a 4-tier system in place, each tier was used to check the quality of care at different levels, for example, a tier 1 check was completed by the staff at the service, and the next 3 tiers involved different levels of managers. Once checks were done actions were updated and communicated to the relevant teams. For example, one action was to arrange with a social worker some bespoke training for staff to enable them to understand a rare medical condition.

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 worked well with health care professionals and community teams. People had access to a wide range of community-based support if needed. For example, some people had chosen to attend a day service to meet their social needs.

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. The provider took every opportunity to make improvements to the service. Audits and action plans were used to drive forward improvements. The provider was in the process of putting in place a new digital system which would support staff teams to do their role more effectively and cut down on time spent on administration. This meant more time could be spent supporting people.