Neways at Home Weymouth

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 79 (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.

The provider had strong values that were shared with staff when recruited and through interactions following that. The provider aimed to provide a tailored and bespoke service ensuring people received person centred support. Key values included, “Unrushed visits, with a minimum duration of 30 minutes, carefully matched and introduced carers… and a focus on bringing joy and positivity to our clients' lives.”

The registered manager told us that going forward they would be displaying the values in the office and adding them to the staff handbook and ensuring they were covered in all supervisions.

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.

The registered manager was passionate about their role, was approachable to both staff and people and enabled their team to provide good quality person-centred care. All feedback about the management team we received from staff, people and their relatives was positive.

Staff told us, “I have been in this company from the beginning and seen it grow and feel we have a good team and a manager I greatly respect, is approachable which is very important to me, is also a very hands on manager.” And “The company director and manager are very supportive and they have listened to ideas that we could implement to offer extra services to the community…” People and relatives told us, “[The manager] Came to see me last week and we had a nice chat.” And. “I speak with the manager regularly - very involved – fantastic support."

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard.

The providers office set up was very much an open door approach and people and staff could access the management team there during office hours. Staff felt able to speak up and did not fear reprisals. They told us, “I have a regular 6 month supervision with my manager and find it good to receive feedback from her and update her with any concerns I may have.” A second staff member said, “My working conditions are good and the office [manager and deputy manager] have always listened to my needs.” And “I am happy in my role, and I feel well supported, there is good teamwork around me to support me to provide good-quality care.” And “We do have one to one supervision and yes, I feel it is useful and regular and if we any concerns or problems they are solved quickly."

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.

The provider employed staff from a wide range of backgrounds including overseas staff. An Equality and Diversity policy set out how the provider would treat people, expectation of their behaviours and what treatment they should expect. They also ensured staff and people were supported in observing important aspects of their faith, for example, ensuring people did not work on their observed religious days. When a staff member was observing Ramadan additional support was offered and it was recognised they may need time off.

The registered manager also told us, “At Neways we are very multicultural, we are a big family and we celebrate each other’s faiths and beliefs. Everybody respects each other and we often get together for team meetings and team functions for special occasions like Christmas parties and birthday parties."

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 provider audited a wide range of areas covering both administration and care delivery. Audits included medicines administration and cream charts, daily progress notes, accidents and incidents and safeguarding’s. Other audits included staff records, staff training and equality and diversity.

Whilst audits had not noted all our findings, the process was embedded into practice and the areas for improvement we noted were added to an improvement plans immediately. Information learned from audits was shared as needed and actions devised and met to ensure shortfalls were improved upon.

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.

The provider had a significant and increasing community presence. They had employed a community liaison officer who worked with people, both customers and others as well as local health and social care organisations to identify and provide services to minimise isolation and promote wellbeing.

Initiatives included setting up a day service opportunity to reduce social isolation in the local community of Portland, fundraising to support a local carnival, partnership working with the Department of Work and Pensions to facilitate information sharing days about care jobs to people seeking work in the local area, and helping to maintain a local radio station by bulk purchasing advertising time.

Other events beneficial to the community included staff champions attending information sharing forums at a local care home, working in partnership with another care agency to develop a training room for use by staff and relatives of people who need support in learning how to use prescribed equipment, arranging bespoke training for staff with a podiatrist so enabling them to identify early stages of foot problems and running open community bingo sessions for all to attend. A recent addition of a monthly service update to people also shared good news and developments with people using the service.

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.

The provider ensured learning came from events, both positive and negative. For example, a medicines error happened due to a printing error on a MAR chart. This prompted an extra check of MAR charts before being issued. The check was completed by a medicine trained competent staff member.
Following incidents, staff and managers complete a ‘lessons learned’ record. This enabled them to establish what went wrong, what went well and how it could have been improved.
The provider also sought to learn about their locality and what the wider community may need to ensure their service was in line with this.