Wiltshire Support At Home Service

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 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 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 provider had shared their values statement with people, setting out what they should expect from the service. Staff told us managers demonstrated the provider’s values in the way they worked. The manager told us they aimed to be agile in their response and to take a ‘one council’ approach, ensuring information was shared with other departments where necessary. The service regularly celebrated staff successes and shared good practice.

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. Staff told us leaders were knowledgeable and provided them with the support they needed to do their job well. The manager had applied for registration with the Care Quality Commission.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. The service had speaking up procedures which staff were able to access if they needed. Details were shared with staff during their induction, staff meetings and supervision sessions. Staff told us they knew how to raise any concerns and were confident managers would listen to them and respond.

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 had processes in place for staff to request flexibility in their work patterns, for example to enable staff with caring responsibilities or those with health conditions to remain working. Staff were aware of these processes and told us they felt supported by the management team.

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. Managers completed a range of audits, surveys and observations of staff practice to monitor the quality of the service. The provider had a performance and outcomes group, which analysed the results, identified where action was needed and monitored to ensure actions were completed. For example, it had been identified that people were often given initial information about the service when they were very tired and disoriented following a stay in hospital. This made it difficult for some people to understand and retain the information. The manager introduced an additional information session for people, a few days after they got home. This had resulted in improved feedback from people about the quality of information they received.

The provider clearly understood and carried out their duty to collaborate and work in partnership with other services. They always shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement. The manager told us they worked in close collaboration with a range of professionals to help make sure people received continuity in their care. People and relatives gave examples of the service working in partnership with other agencies, including health and social care services.

Professional partners gave overwhelmingly positive feedback about working in partnership with the service to meet people’s needs. Comments from partners included, “Wiltshire Support at Home work closely with other healthcare providers and other teams within the council, they build strong relationships and ensure they invest in these as it benefits the people using their services”; “There is a strong commitment to collaboration, and the service actively engages with partner organisations to drive improvements” and “The adult community teams very much feel they work in partnership with [the service]. This joint working is effective and enable’s effective and appropriate outcomes for the customers.”

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. Systems for monitoring standards of care were used to identify areas of improvement and lessons learned. This included regular audits and quality assurance checks. There was evidence of several changes that had been made to the service to make improvements to improve safety. Complaints were managed and outcomes used to improve the service. Records demonstrated staff were trained and supervised appropriately.