INFINITYCARE365 LTD

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.

This is the first assessment for this service. This key question has been rated requires improvement. This meant the management and leadership was inconsistent. Leaders and the culture they created did not always support the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care.

The service was in breach of legal regulation in relation to their oversight of care records, ensuring people’s mental capacity assessments were documented and submitting statutory notifications to CQC.
 

This service scored 62 (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. People were asked for their feedback through reviews, surveys and phone calls. A relative told us, “We have done a feedback form, I put excellent for everything.” Another relative whose loved one was new to the service said, “We have not had a questionnaire or survey. They rang to check we are happy with the service and have always said we can call at any time.” Staff and the registered manager understood the challenges some people experienced and showed admiration, compassion and empathy for them.

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. The registered manager demonstrated honestly and openness throughout our inspection, they also understood their responsibility under the duty of candour to apologise if things were to go wrong. The registered manager or members of the management team often undertook spot checks and observations with care staff; this enabled them to learn and help staff overcome challenges. A staff member told us about spot checks and said, “I have had a few spot checks, [member of the management team] follows behind sometimes, I think when they do spot checks they don’t tell you, they like surprises. They will say there and then if they notice there is something you are not doing correctly, usually they give a lecture or correction. They always give feedback, good compliments and sometimes teachings.”

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. The provider had a clear speaking up policy for staff to follow should they need to, the policy included details of an appointed freedom to speak up guardian and contact information of the local authority safeguarding team. Staff told us they felt comfortable to speak up, their comments included, “[Registered manager] is very approachable, I can give suggestions to them.”

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 told us they felt respected and included. Most of the staff were from overseas and were supported to adapt to working in the UK, the registered manager purchased various pieces of healthcare related equipment so staff were able to familiarise themselves with them. Staff attended regular staff meetings, one staff member said, “Staff meetings are approximately two to three times per month. Mostly it’s all about encouraging us to do our work in the right way and no short cuts when in the clients house. Making sure we do what we are supposed to do in accordance to the care plan, take our time with the clients and listen to them.”

The provider did not always have clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance. They did not always act on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, or share this securely with others when appropriate. Quality assurance processes were not in place to effectively identify shortfalls in relation to people’s care records. The registered manager told us they wrote care plans and completed risk assessments but there was no formal mechanism to audit the quality and accuracy. We identified some care plans contained conflicting information and did not always include guidance to staff to manage people’s health conditions or equipment. Staff documented they were supporting people with equipment that had not been risk assessed and were not planned for; audits were not in place to recognise these shortfalls. In response to our feedback the registered manager said they would identify a good auditing tool to support their understanding. The registered manager did not always fulfil their statutory responsibility to notify CQC of events and incidents within in the service. We identified three incidents which we had not been informed about, the registered manager advised they will increase their knowledge about notifications and will notify us in retrospect, and in the future. The registered manager had not formally documented mental capacity assessments for people and was not aware it was their responsibility to do so. Following our feedback, they immediately sought advice and had started to undertake assessments.

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 made efforts to integrate into the local community which included a member of the management team helping to run a local dementia café. The registered manager told us how they helped a member of the public to arrange hospital transport as the person did not know what services were available to them. Healthcare professionals said staff and management collaborated well with them, comments included, “In general they have been really good, they said when they didn’t feel safe about [person] walking, we looked at how to manage this.”

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. The registered manger attended industry- based seminars and networked with other managers to increase their knowledge. Staff and management worked alongside various healthcare professionals and told us how they learned from occupational therapists and palliative care nurses and applied their learning to improve people’s experience. The registered manager arranged additional learning to meet the needs of new people they were supporting, for example, they reached out to a specialist hospital ward so staff could learn more about respiratory conditions including the use of equipment provide relief and comfort. Medicine audits were conducted to ensure the accurate recording and administration of medicines. Other audits and checks were effective in driving improvement, for example, infection prevention and control. Where areas of improvement were identified, additional training was arranged and staff meetings were held to address any shortfalls.