Starmedi Healthcare Services 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 registered 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 68 (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 a mission statement, which said, “At Starmedi Healthcare Services Ltd, we pride ourselves for hard work and a holistic approach to our valued clients, treating people with the same care and kindness. Our mission is to provide safe, effective, caring, responsive, and well-led healthcare services in full alignment with the standards set by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).” Staff felt they worked in line with these values.

The manager had completed training relevant to their role. The manager told us they were supporting staff to enrol on further qualifications to support their professional development. Other people spoke positively about the manager. For example, 1 person said, “[Manager] always jumps in if there’s a problem. She’s very hands on, very sweet. Said she will try to pop in and visit me in hospital; that’s not her remit. I hope I get Starmedi again when I go home.”

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. Staff told us they felt able to speak up and had a good understanding of what this term meant. Staff said, “Yes, I am aware of the term 'freedom to speak up' it is the ability to speak or raise issues faced within the service without fear of blame to them. It means allowing staff freedom to speak up and means creating a safe environment and boosting confidence among staff.” There was a freedom to speak up policy for staff which outlined how staff could raise concerns in confidence.

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. Comments from staff included, “For the time I have been with the service so far, I do not have any concerns about the way the service treats me.” The service had a workforce wellbeing policy which stated they would support flexible working where possible, respecting staff time outside of working hours and encouraging annual leave uptake.

The provider did not always have clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability or good governance. They did not always act on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, or share this securely with others when appropriate. Audits and governance systems were not always effective in identifying concerns. For example, the provider’s systems had failed to identify shortfalls including the shortfalls in medicines management. Additionally, there was no system in place for leaders to track incidents or near misses, which meant the manager did not always have effective oversight of the service and could not always identify areas for improvement.

The provider did not always understand their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, so services worked seamlessly for people. They did not always share information and learning with partners or collaborate for improvement. One professional told us the provider was reluctant to engage in conversations in relation to improving the quality of care for a person, following some concerns raised. The professional commented, “Concerns have been raised to agency manager; the care agency manager was reluctant to work with customer's family to seek a suitable resolution.”

However, the manager told us, “We have a number of other peers where we pass information, including another care leader at [registered care service].” The manager also said they worked with local authorities and engaged in social media groups.

The provider focussed on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system.

The manager told us they had made some recent improvements at the service. They told us, “We are upgrading the [online care system]. We used to have another [online care system], but it wasn’t broad enough. Through talking with others, it was recommended that we try this [online care system]. We learnt this through a [social media] group and was informed it was one of the NHS’s top systems”. The provider learnt from other services and engaged in community groups to improve the service.