Snowball Care UK Ltd

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 good. At this assessment the rating has remained 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.

We did not look at Shared direction and culture during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

The registered manager and staff described how they assessed and reviewed people's care plans with them. They told us about how people and their relatives, where appropriate, were engaged in this process. The records we reviewed and the feedback we received from people confirmed people had been involved and engaged in reviews of their care.

The provider had policies and procedures in place to ensure people's health, care, wellbeing and communication needs were assessed with them. people's ca re records had been recently reviewed. People confirmed they were satisfied with the provider's processes. A person said, "They follow my care plan to the word and as long as this continues I shall remain very happy." Another person told us, " They are very flexible and if I need to change anything or cancel that’s ok,"

The registered manager told us people were asked for their views of the the care and support they received on a regular basis. This was confirmed by the people we spoke with. Staff told us they could raise issues with their manager, and had regular access to managers when they needed support, including outside of office hours . A staff member told us, "Snowball always make sure we are ok. If there is any problem the local supervisor attends immediately."

The provider had systems in place to ensure people and staff were able to speak up. People told us they were asked for their views on a regular basis. They knew how to contact the service if they had a concern, and were confident their concerns would be addressed. A person told us, “The manager is easy to contact and she is always helpful.

She also rings me to see if all is OK,"

Staff members received regular supervision from a manager and had access to and 'out of hours' on call service' to enable them to access management support at any time. The provider had a whistleblowing procedure in place and staff were aware of this.

The provider recruited staff from a range of backgrounds. The registered manager said, “The most important thing is that they are reliable and able to do the Job well.” The registered manager told us they endeavoured to match staff with people according to their culture, interests and preferences where this was possible. Staff consistently told us they received fair and equal treatment as employees and felt part of a team.

The provider had equality, diversity and human rights (EDHR) policies and procedures in place. These reflected current best practice. Staff had received EDHR training.

Staff felt the culture and management of the service was inclusive and supportive. We saw that staff turnover was low. One staff member told us, “I have been here since it opened. If I wasn’t happy I would not have stayed so long.” Staff told us they had access to good quality training. They told us the supervision and information they received was invaluable and helped them to ensure they provided the care and support people needed in line with best practice.

The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of care and support people received. Regular feedback was sought, and this was confirmed by the people we spoke with. Spot checks of staff care practice was carried out in people’s homes. Regular reviews of people’s care plans and risk assessments had taken place. The provider had recently commissioned a consultant to assist in developing care plans and risk assessments, and these were of a good standard.

People told us the service worked in partnership with other professionals involved in their care and support. Some people told us the provider had worked with other services to ensure they had appropriate information, and to enable their valued care staff to move with them when they transitioned to the service.

At the time of our assessment, some people were transitioning to other care and support services. The registered manager told us that, when people were moving to another service, they would endeavour to always ensure information was shared, subject to people's consent. This approach was confirmed by the records viewed and by feedback. from people.

The registered manager told us staff were supported to enable people to attend appointments in relation to their health and care needs. This was confirmed by people, staff and the care records we viewed.

Feedback from health and social care professionals was not always positive. A commissioning local authority advised that they had experienced a communication breakdown with the provider and partnership working with the provider was poor.

The provider had systems in place for engaging with other providers in relation to people's care and support needs. People's carerecords showed staff had liaised with key health and social care providers to ensure their needs were met.

We did not look at Learning, improvement and innovation during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.