Dorcas Care Ltd Also known as Sparcells Office

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 newly 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 71 (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.

There was a positive, open culture at the service, which was in line with right support, right care, right culture. Leaders told us, “Our values are to treat everyone with compassion and care and to lead by example. We have both worked in care a long time.” Relatives spoke positively about the service and there were no concerns about the culture raised.

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.

Relatives spoke positively about the leaders at the service. Comments included, “Both my [family member] and I are more than happy with the care [manager] gives her” and “I would describe the management as fantastic.”

Leaders had completed relevant training, and the registered manager had completed a Level 5 qualification in health and social care leadership.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. Leaders told us, “We have no staff at present, but we want to create a culture of being able to speak up. This comes through training, repeating messages in 1:1's [one on one discussions between staff and leaders] and supervisions. We can then embed this into the culture.” We observed leaders to be receptive and responsive to feedback during the inspection. There was a whistleblowing procedure to enable staff to raise concerns anonymously, which also promoted an open culture.

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.

Leaders told us they would consider flexible working patterns for prospective staff with caring responsibilities. The service’s recruitment policy stated, “Recruitment decisions will be based on the requirements of the role and the needs of the service. Dorcas Care aims to promote equality of opportunity, fair treatment, and non-discriminatory recruitment practices.”

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.

The service’s governance systems had not identified some of the shortfalls found in medicines management, consent to care and treatment, and care planning. However, leaders told us they were introducing a new MAR chart audit. Leaders told us they would introduce a staff file audit when they started recruiting staff.

Relatives said they felt the service was well managed and raised no concerns. Leaders completed other governance checks such as spot checks, and audits of daily logs of care.

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 service was not actively working with any other healthcare services at the time of the assessment, but leaders understood the importance for this if the need arose.

Leaders engaged with the local authority and attended training they provided. Leaders commented “It’s very helpful”. Leaders engaged with people and their relatives to ensure care was delivered effectively and in line with people’s needs.

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. Leaders engaged with groups to improve practice, such as Skills for Care [an independent, registered charity which supports the adult social care sector] and the local authority. The nominated individual told us they were learning to create a basic online application system for care planning and the recording of daily notes.