Highlea Care Limited

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.

At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment this key question has been rated requires improvement. This meant there were some shortfalls in leadership. Leaders and the culture they created did not always assure the delivery of high-quality care.

This service scored 54 (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 did not always have a clear shared vision, strategy and culture which embraced all staff. Staff gave us mixed feedback on the support they received and the sense of shared direction and culture at the service. A member of staff told us, “The support workers are doing their best to ensure the needs and well-being of each service user is being met but we are struggling without the relevant leadership.” Another staff member said, “(The) service is running well with a good leadership and good communication.” A healthcare partner we spoke with said, “I generally find working with the services to not be consistent.” We spoke with the provider and registered manager about this, who told us they would continue to review and improve how the direction and culture of the service was developed and shared with staff.

Leaders did not always embody the culture and values of their workforce and organisation. Staff and relatives gave us mixed feedback on the leadership of the service. A relative said, “The managers don’t listen, and I’ve even been to head office and they say we’ll look into it and you never hear anything.” However, another relative told us how leaders had helped them and a person with some issues that had arisen. A healthcare partner said, “Care staff have often fed back that the leadership support is poor in Highlea and often the team leaders aren’t there to provide supervision or debriefs following incidents.” We spoke with the provider and registered manager about this, who said they were planning on relaunching the systems they had to involve people, relatives and staff in how the service was run.

Staff and relatives acting on people’s behalf did not always feel they could speak up or that their voice would be heard. Records showed action was taken when issues were raised, but staff and relatives told us they were not always confident this would happen. A relative said, “I’ve no idea who the manager is, but the ones I’ve spoken to had said they were going to do this or that, but don’t.” We spoke with the provider and registered manager about this, who said they would review how their freedom to speak up systems were communicated to people, relatives and staff.

Workforce inclusion was not consistently or effectively promoted. Staff gave us mixed feedback on how the provider ensured workforce equality and inclusion. A member of staff told us, “Never see them (leaders), just get left up here.” Another staff member said, “We listen to each other’s views.” A recent provider staff survey found the majority of staff did not feel their suggestions counted and only half felt appreciated at work. The provider and registered manager said they regularly spoke with staff about how their support of them could be improved.

The provider did not always have clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability or good governance. The provider and registered manager carried out a range of audits to monitor and improve standards at the service. However, these had not always identified or effectively addressed the issues we found with staffing, assessment and support records and gathering feedback. We spoke with the provider and registered manager about this, who said governance systems would be reviewed to ensure timely action was taken when issues arose.

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. Relevant information was shared with healthcare partners to help improve the quality of people’s support.

The provider focused on continuous learning, innovation and improvement but the results of this were not always consistent. People had not always been supported to set and meet objectives to allow them to enjoy a full life. A healthcare partner told us, “Some of the care staff working day to day are highly motivated and do support some of our service users well, unfortunately this isn’t consistent.” The provider and registered manager told us they would review their systems to ensure there was a consistent focus on learning and improvement.