CCS Home Care Services (Hillingdon)

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. This meant the service was consistently managed and well-led. Leaders and the culture they created promoted high-quality, person-centred care.

The provider was previously in breach of the legal regulation in relation to good governance. Improvements were found at this assessment, and the provider was no longer in breach of this regulation.

This service scored 75 (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 developed a strategy covering the organisation, vision, mission, values and cultures of the service. This identified how the organisation would work towards becoming a sector leader for home care services, support people to live independently and develop staff with clear leadership.

People and relatives felt, that in general, the service was well run. Their comments included, “It is really well run, and we always know when the carers are arriving”, “The Management has good intentions, but they are overworked. They do try. Make an effort 80% of the time they do a cracking job” and “The service is effective and efficient; I am really pleased with the regular reviews. They have a good degree of patience and tolerance.” People and relatives felt office staff were responsive, listened to them and dealt with their enquiry.

Staff felt supported by the management and senior staff. A staff member commented, “I feel supported in my job through regular communication with my manager and team, access to training opportunities, clear care plans and risk assessments, and knowing I can ask for guidance whenever I face challenges, I also feel supported when my concerns are listed to and acted upon.”

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 provider had a learning and development team which provided a management training course to develop the skills of current and future managers in the service.

The registered manager has a team of staff with a range of roles to provide support with the provision of care. The provider had systems in place to enable the registered manager to share knowledge and best practice across the organisation with other registered manager to promote improvements within the service.

Staff felt they were supported by the management of the service, and they felt they could raise any concerns or issues with senior staff. Staff were asked what the best thing about working for the service was. Their responses included, “The best thing about the company, it always supports employees, operationally with good teamwork and gives quality service in care to service users” and “The best thing is the supportive management and friendly team.”

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard.

The registered manager explained the whistleblowing procedure was discussed with staff during induction, at team and supervision meetings as well as at wider staff events such as conferences. The registered manager told us there was a separate human resources and legal department at head office that staff could contact if they had any concerns relating to the service. Staff completed training relating to closed cultures as part of their mandatory training. Staff confirmed they knew how to raise any concerns relating to the service. People and relatives told us they knew how to contact the office and were confident to raise any concerns or complaints.

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 registered manager confirmed, whenever possible, staff were matched to care for people from a similar religious or cultural background to enable staff to have a better understanding of how to meet their support needs.

The provider had developed objectives relating to equality and diversity. These included developing a workplace culture that celebrates diversity and supporting the cultural and religious practices of staff and people being supported.

The registered manager explained they acted as the mental health wellbeing champion for the service to ensure staff could access the appropriate support for their health and wellbeing. This included access to professional who could provide assistance with health, finance and counselling when required.

The registered manager told us they supported staff by amending rotas for religious festivals, there was a prayer room in the office and staff with caring responsibilities could have flexible working.

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.

The provider had made improvements since the previous assessment to ensure care records reflected people’s current needs and included guidance for staff supporting the person in a safe and appropriate way. Care plans and risk assessments were updated and regularly reviewed to ensure they reflected the person’s care needs. The records of the care provided completed by staff which included activities outside the person’s home were detailed and identified how the person was supported.

The provider had a range of audits and checks in place to monitor the service. These included checks on care plans, risk assessment, medicines, staff files and the notes recorded by staff following each visit.

The provider had contingency plans in place to ensure the service could continue providing care in case of an emergency. The provider followed best practice to ensure the information relating to people and staff were stored safely and appropriately.

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 explained they worked with a number of different organisations to ensure people received the care and support they required. The provider worked with the hospital discharge team, social workers, GPs, district nurses, occupational therapists and other health and social care professionals. A health and social care professional told us, “Partnership attitude is evident, with managers and staff willing to work alongside [local authority] to strengthen processes and participate in multi-agency safeguarding work.” The provider also worked with organisations such as NHS trusts and charities supporting people with medical conditions.

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 registered manager explained they worked closely with the local authority, who commissioned the care packages, to monitor the quality of the support provided. The provider had specialist staff who monitored people’s prescribed medicines to ensure there were no interactions or issues with how these were to be administered to keep people safe.

People, relatives and staff were asked for feedback on the care provided and the quality of the service. The information was used to identify any issues and develop improvement plans.

Staff completed a range of training with refresher sessions to ensure they were up to date with best practice. Following investigations into incident, accidents, safeguarding and complaints actions identified to reduce further risk were discussed with staff through meetings with additional training provided if required.

The provider had made improvements to their audits to enable them to monitor the quality of the service and make improvements when required. The provider had an audit which monitored people’s care plans and risk assessments to ensure the information was complete and up to date. There was also an audit on the electronic call monitoring system to identify that visits were occurring as planned. Regular checks were carried out on the records completed by staff describing the care provided during each visit to ensure people’s care needs were reflected.