Seco Support Swindon

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 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 had 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.

The culture across the service was one of positivity, ambition and individuality. Staff demonstrated a deep understanding of the provider’s values and were proud to work in an environment where inclusion, respect and person-centred care were ‑non-negotiable‑. This strong, shared culture ensured people consistently experienced care that was enabling, personalised and aligned with their goals and aspirations.

People were involved in the creation of the company’s vision and mission. The manager told us, “We have recently launched 'The people's voice' which is a forum where the people we support can have their voices heard and their ideas shared and included in Seco Support's mission and vision. This forum is led by one of the people we support.” We saw evidence of this during the assessment.

The manager also told us, “Each service has a dedicated Manager to ensure we remain bespoke and true to our vision. They take ownership of their role in driving improvements, embracing creativity and openness to change. They actively listen, welcome feedback, and engage fully in all aspects of the service.”

Staff worked in line with the Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture guidance. The provider had developed the service in line with the key principles of choice, independence and inclusion. The service was exceptionally person-centred, demonstrated in how well staff knew people, how staff put people’s needs first and how they supported people to have maximum choice and control over their lives. The service used innovative and creative methods to support people to communicate and to provide steps for them to follow to increase self-confidence and promote independence.

The provider had 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. Leaders were highly skilled, knowledgeable and credible, and they modelled integrity, openness and honesty in all aspects of their work. This created a culture where staff felt safe, respected and empowered.

Staff spoke positively about leaders and the support they received. Comments included, “My Area Manager goes above and beyond, she always makes time for me, even when busy. She has in depth knowledge, and skills. She is also always open to learn more, and currently signed up for her level 7 qualification, leading by example and encouraging development”, “The structure of Seco is amazing, I can’t stop saying it. The service manager only stays at this service, so all her attention is here” and “[Senior leader] calls to check in to see how things are going. They are all so reachable.” Relatives also commented, “The service manager is exceptionally approachable and helpful” and “There’s a new manager in place who has taken the time to call me and visit the service while I was visiting my family member.”

We reviewed compliments received by the service about the leadership team. These included, ‘[Manager] is the perfect person to be recruited as the manager for [person’s] team’, 'SECO are the best provider [person] has had, having a dedicated Service Manager has really helped’, and ‘Since l have known [service manager] she has always been very professional, in her approach to communication. She is a very effective team leader inspiring the team. She has helped my anxiety as a [relative] by giving me regular updates on [person’s] health and well-being. Since [person] has known [service manager] his life has improved and thanks to her hard work he now has some kind of a life’.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. Staff understood the term freedom to speak up and felt able to raise any concerns.

Staff also told us about how they applied this to the people they support. One staff member commented, “For the people we support, it means giving them the opportunity to express their thoughts or concerns about their care. We empower them to speak up by checking in regularly to make sure they are happy with their support. If there is something they want to change, we take a proactive approach to address it. This helps develop a sense of empowerment, so they feel confident that their voice is heard, their concerns are taken seriously, and their care can be tailored to how they want it.”

There were various formats for staff to speak up, this included an anonymous forum called ‘Staff Zone’ and a platform where staff could share their feedback called ‘Your say’. This stated, ‘We are proud to introduce the Your Say Forum—a dedicated platform where employeescan share their thoughts, collaborate, and contribute to meaningful improvementsacross the organisation.’

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. Staff told us they had no concerns about how they were treated at work.

The manager told us, “All staff complete a health questionnaire, once this has been completed, if needed the colleague will have an assessment by Occupational Health. There are examples of colleagues having reasonable adjustments for anxiety, and one colleague who has [health condition], is supported with [treatment], hospital appointments and a shadow rota in case [person] becomes unwell during a shift.”

Staff told us the service was flexible and responsive. One staff commented, “The level of flexibility is great, if I need to do the school run, I could call [service manager] and she would be here in a flash.”

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 service had a clear, strong structure and leaders had clear oversight of the service. There were a range of quality assurance checks which took place including audits, observations and feedback. Leadership and management meetings took place monthly which included discussions around the people they supported, safeguarding, compliments and complaints, finance, CQC and compliance and staff training. Within these meetings, previous inspection reports from other providers were shared to enable learning from these inspections.

Staff told us about the various audits and checks which took place within the services. This included cleaning rotas, health and safety audits, and medicine audits to ensure compliance.

There were clear policies and procedures which staff understood and followed. Staff generally spoke positively about the management of the service. One staff member told us they felt that although the service was well organised and managed, that the management of medicines for one person needed improving in relation to stock control and stock counts needing amending.

We identified the service had not notified CQC of one incident involving the police. We raised this with leaders who submitted this retrospectively and told us they would learn from this.

The provider clearly understood and carried out their duty to collaborate and worked in partnership, and services worked seamlessly for people. They always shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement.

All staff told us there was regular engagement with other professionals. Comments included, “Our regular multidisciplinary meetings feed into collaborative working. We work closely with appropriate professionals and complete documentation after any appointment we support. Seco will seek relevant input from professionals to aid us giving the best support we can” and “Weekly MDT meetings take place so that all professionals involved in the person’s care are kept up to date. Regular team meetings are also held, giving staff the opportunity to share updates, raise concerns, and contribute ideas.”

Community involvement extended well beyond routine access, resulting in authentic relationships that enriched people’s daily lives. For example, staff supported a person to write and produce a song and record this at a recording studio, which has been played on the radio and is available on online musical streaming services. We reviewed feedback from a professional which stated, “Gosh, that’s amazing. I am now going to share the life out of this and shout it from the roof tops, how brilliant you all are!” and “Oh god, tears of joy! I will never forget [person]. We managed to get him an amazing care provider.” The person’s relatives told us how this had had a positive impact on the person’s confidence and wellbeing.

There were various examples shared throughout the inspection where staff had collaborated with partners to improve outcomes for people. We reviewed one compliment from a relative which stated, “Getting [person] to go out of the house and start to enjoy life again has been a massive achievement.” Leaders had also collaborated with an MDT to reduce staffing requirements for one person which meant care was less restrictive.

Staff supported people to have meaningful relationships. One staff member told us how a senior leader facilitated regular calls with 2 people who were supported by the service. Another staff member told us how the person they supported had expressed they wanted to make a friend. We saw this was recorded within their care plan.

Monthly newsletters were written so people’s relatives could keep up to date with what was happening within the service. All relatives also told us there was regular communication from staff, so they were always in the loop. One relative commented, “The present set up works well and I for once have no current anxieties about his care.”

The provider had 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.

Learning was embedded into everyday practice.Throughout the assesment, staff told us how they valued learning opportunities and were committed to continual improvement. For example, there was meaningful learning following incidents which improved outcomes for people. Learning was shared among staff and leaders to collaborate for improvement. One staff member commented how they were currently reviewing a person’s care plan weekly due to them being relatively new to the service. The staff told us, “We are learning new things about [person] every day.”

There was a culture of innovation throughout the service. Staff told us how people and their relatives were involved in developing and evaluating improvements within the services. One staff said, “We have feedback surveys for the people we support; these have been developed to be more accessible to the people we support, as we realised a simple yes/no tick box wasn’t for everyone. We accept drawings and video recordings as feedback and created a pack to send to each person we support, with colouring and stickers of subjects of interest to them to encourage engagement.” We saw evidence of this during the inspection, and following feedback from people, there were clear and measurable actions recorded. This stated, ‘Each service manager will work with the results to plan how to improve this moving forward. Working on setting clear goals and expectations to facilitate a better understanding and keep the persons voice heard’.