Care 4 U Wolverhampton Limited

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• 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 outstanding. At this assessment the rating has remained outstanding. This meant service leadership was exceptional and distinctive. Leaders and the culture they created drove and improved high-quality, person-centred care.

This service scored 89 (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 continued to have a very clear shared vision, strategy and culture. This was based on transparency, equity, equality and human rights, diversity and inclusion, engagement, and an exceptional understanding of the challenges and the needs of people and their communities.There continued to be an exceptional culture embedded throughout the service. The registered manager told us, “We listen to people’s needs and preferences and hold the person at the forefront of everything we do. We treat people with dignity and respect at all times and respect peoples cultural or religious beliefs often speaking about a broad range of subjects throughout the visits, putting people at ease during the visits, this can be evidenced in daily care records.” People and their relatives spoke highly of the service and confirmed they received exceptionally effective and person-centred care which was of a high quality. All the feedback we saw about the service was positive. A relative told us, “Without a doubt I think they are outstanding, they have been so good. It was not easy for me to ask for help and the quality of the support is absolutely outstanding, we are made to feel like we matter, and we are not just a name on the books. It is brilliant, never any sense of being rushed, never had any concerns or felt like an inconvenience.” Staff were fully aware of and embraced with enthusiasm the values of the service. A staff member told us, “I think the service is outstanding because they put the people using the service first, I have worked in the sector before, and many providers think about what is best for the company. Here we take care of people, we get help to assess things where needed and people trust what we say and make changes for the service user on our recommendation.” The provider supported people equitably and promoted people’s human rights, diversity and inclusion. There are examples of this evidenced throughout the report.

The provider continued to have exceptionally 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 always did so with integrity, openness and honesty. The registered manager and whole management team were highly valued. All the feedback we received from people, relatives and staff was extremely positive. There were many positive comments which highlighted how well the service was managed and how the leadership embedded the values of person-centred care onto all the staff. People told us they had no hesitation in recommending the company as they were attentive, responsive and extremely well led. A person told us, “The company is very well organised and led. The office is always responsive. I would recommend them without hesitation.” Another person told us, “I have no complaints or concerns and would highly recommend them.” Relatives told us they felt the company went the extra mile to support people, relatives and staff. They also felt the leadership was exceptionally good and gave us clear examples of how this was demonstrated. A relative told us, “The management and office team are very supportive of their staff. For instance, a staff member’s car broke down, and the registered manager stepped up to cover their calls. The office staff all know what they are doing; they are very well trained. The company is so well organised and supportive to each other. I have no complaints or concerns and would recommend them.” Another relative told us, “The management team are so well organised, and the company is really well managed and run. They are always responsive, approachable and very hands on. They always check up the standard of the service with reviews. I have no complaints, issues or concerns with this outstanding company. I would recommend them highly.” Staff told us the company was fantastic to work for, and they felt the management team were approachable and equitable. They felt part of a team, and nothing was too much trouble. A staff member told us, “It is absolutely fantastic here, if you have a problem they help and they make you feel part of a team.” Another staff member said, “All staff are treated equally, the management team are good at making us feel part of a team. I like the spot checks they do, it helps to make sure our practice is ok.” Whilst another told us, “We are always updated and welcomed into the office. We have a newsletter, we have updates, like in March this year we welcomed new staff members and gay awareness month featured.” The registered manager told us they felt their approach was unique in that they try to ensure people were cared for like you would care for your own family. The registered manager said, “When people join Care 4 U whether it be a person requiring our services or indeed a new staff member, they automatically become part of the Care 4 U family and people quickly feel that sense of belonging which we are extremely proud of.” Without exception everyone we spoke with felt the leadership of the organisation was extremely good. People, relatives and staff described feeling like the approach taken by managers was to make them become part of a family. The values of the organisation’s leadership were understood by everyone who worked there and this was demonstrated by the positive outcomes people had achieved and the continuous positive feedback.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. The provider had a policy in place to ensure people had the freedom to speak up. The registered manager ensured staff were aware of the policy and understood how to raise any concerns. Staff told us they understood how to raise concerns and were confident these would be addressed. A staff member said, “There is a whistleblowing policy in place. I would be 100% comfortable raising any concerns, you are always listened to here.”

The provider continued to strongly value diversity in their workforce. They had an inclusive and fair culture which had improved equality and equity for people who worked for them. Staff were overwhelmingly positive about working for the provider. They told us the company was wonderful and they felt completely supported in their role. They described being able to access help with anything, work or personal and were completely at ease when doing so. A staff member told us, “They are a brilliant company, and they make my work life brilliant, that is why I have been here 10 years.” Another staff member said, “Nothing is too much trouble for any of them or the other staff. This means service users know we have good support and they feel comfortable.” Whilst another commented, “Anyone of them will come out and help you.” The registered managed ensured there was a high visible presence of the management team. They told us they felt this helped with the smooth running of the service as they were always available to help, listen and advise. The registered manager was able to share numerous examples of support they had given staff with matters relating to work, health and finance being shared. The registered manager told us, “We have an excellent relationship with all our staff and treat our staff as equals.” There were clear systems in place to ensure staff were treated with equity and the culture was one of inclusion. The provider had considered how the recruitment and retention of the right staff was essential to providing the type of service they wanted to deliver and ensure people received person-centred care which supported them to achieve positive outcomes. The staff retention was good at the service with many staff having worked there for many years. The registered manager told us they felt this was due to the creation of an inclusive culture which helped to reduce staff turnover. Staff told us they felt valued and were treated well which they felt helped them to deliver truly person-centred care to people who used the service. A staff member told us, “It is really brilliant, it is nice to be in a place where the company are so person centred and effective in how things are run.” The report throughout shows examples of the positive way in which the well supported workforce was able to deliver peoples care and support. The training coordinator told us, “I have adapted the training to ensure those who learn better in smaller groups can access training this way. I go out and work with the staff to check their understanding and identify any additional training needs. I can adapt courses to support, individual staff, for example when English is not their first language.”

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 registered manager had systems in place to check on the quality of the service people received. There were quarterly feedback questionnaires completed which enabled the registered manager to continually assess the quality of people’s individual experiences. People and their relatives confirmed these were in place and valued the opportunity to share feedback. There were other systems to check on staff practice. The provider carried out regular spot checks and audits of peoples care plans, medicines administration and daily recording. The spot checks also checked on staff practice more widely. These were effective in ensuring any issues were identified and addressed.

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 told us they often worked in partnership with other agencies. Staff shared examples of supporting people alongside other providers and how this worked to ensure people received the care they needed. We saw there were regular engagements with other agencies throughout the period people had used the service. When the initial assessments were completed, referrals to other professionals were done as standard to ensure the person received holistic support. For example, referrals for equipment were made and staff engaged with occupational therapists to learn how to best support people with any equipment provided. Feedback from partners was regularly shared with the provider which showed how valued the provider was in the local care market.

The provider continued to have a strong focus on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. They always 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 heavily invested in learning and improvement. There was a training coordinator who was responsible for delivering all the in-house training, all of which was done face to face and designed to meet the individual staff members training needs. The trainer was accredited and their skills were regularly updated, and this ensured they were always able to offer bespoke training to meet any specific needs promptly. The training coordinator told us, “The company is really unique, it is a good company to work for in relation to learning. We adapt and change the training to the staff. The outcomes are great, we have good feedback from people and their relatives about the training. We start from the induction, and this is 25 hours or more.” Staff competency was also assessed and there were regular checks on this to ensure they remained competent in their role. Staff valued the opportunities afforded to them to receive training and development opportunities. Staff told us they were happy training was comprehensive and completed face to face as this was extremely good at ensuring they felt confident in care delivery. The staff also told us they often had updates shared with them. The provider encouraged staff to participate in being a Dementia Friend, which is a national campaign designed to support people with Dementia. A staff member told us, “This helps us not just at work but in our local communities to recognise signs of Dementia and we can promote good practice in communication and support.” The registered manager told us, “Our staff retention is excellent, as we find that an inclusive culture reduces staff turnover. A team that celebrates shared values will collaborate more effectively and we actively promote this at Care 4 U, all of our training is done with our training officer, they will sit with the staff and explain all the training, we do not do tick box exercises, we talk everything through and relate the training to real life experiences and the people we look after.” This meant continual learning was in place for staff and they demonstrated this in how they provided individualised and holistic support to people using the service.