Home Instead – Eastbourne and Hailsham

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 outstanding. At this assessment the rating has remained 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 provider had a clear vision, strategy and values which they shared with people using the service. Leaders spoke passionately about their values of empowering people to be in control of their whole lives. They showed an exceptionally person-centred culture by treating people and relatives with dignity, respect and providing equal opportunities to all. The registered manager shared with us their commitment to deliver high quality care that “focuses on enabling people to enjoy their whole lives”, adding “We want them to have fun and sparkle.” Without exception, all people, relatives, staff and professionals said the service had an inclusive and welcoming culture, where people using the service came first. People gave 100% positive feedback for recommending Home Instead to others, which was a testament to their outstanding culture.

The provider continually reviewed their mission statement and strategy to ensure it always put people first. They had a strong focus on learning and development. Feedback from people, relatives, staff and professionals were central to shaping the service structure and governance framework, and we found they were present in the culture and vision of the service. This ensured people were at the centre of their support and had control over their lives.

The provider consistently demonstrated how their vision and strategy had people at the heart of the service. They ensured all staff had a good understanding of equality, diversity and human rights. Staff were exceptionally aware of potential discrimination and barriers to care people could face. We saw evidence on how the provider and staff consistently and effectively provided support to reduce this. The provider also showed an exceptional approach to their culture, openness and transparency of the service. They led by example, and told us, “We embed our mission statement by regularly referring to it when making important decisions, ensuring they are in line with our overarching vision. We lead by example and always talk to staff about our vision and strategy from inductions to team meetings. We celebrate staff who demonstrate a strong commitment and alignment with our values. The process of encouraging, sharing and celebrating underpins everything we do.” All staff understood the importance of upholding the values of the organisation. They shared the providers values which supported them to continually aspire to achieve good outcomes for people and led to high-quality care being delivered.

The provider consistently demonstrated how they recruited staff based on sharing the same values. They said, “We use the ‘Mum’ test when recruiting and ask ourselves if we would be happy for this person to look after our own loved one or relative when making recruitment decisions.” Their recruitment processes had worked exceptionally well as all staff spoke passionately about people as individuals with full lives and experiences. Feedback from staff was consistently high on how supportive leaders were. They told us there was a culture of collaboration and inclusion where they and people were listened to; how they worked as a team supporting and encouraging each other to be innovative and creative. The provider prioritised the well-being, development, and engagement of staff, viewing them as the foundation to deliver excellent care to people. This meant people consistently received exceptionally compassionate, high-quality support.

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.

People received a personalised service from an exceptionally well-led team of staff. Leaders and staff were extremely passionate and committed to providing high-quality, person-centred care. It was clear the registered manager exhibited very strong leadership skills. They led with compassion and inclusivity to achieve consistently high standards. All people, relatives, professionals and staff gave consistently high feedback about the registered manager’s honesty, integrity, and passion to ensure people received exceptional care.

Staff spoke very highly of leaders at Home Instead and how they felt valued right from the start. A staff member told us about their experience at interview, “I didn’t know I had many strengths, but they pointed them out to me. It really made me feel special and as though I was able to do the job. Here I am years later, and I still love my job every day.”

Leaders modelled inclusive behaviours of being open, honest and approachable. They created a supportive work environment and established clear expectations for staff and used positive reinforcement when things went wrong. Staff told us, “The manager is amazing. They go above and beyond their role; they have a great team that supports them too that I think are brilliant. They all work super hard to keep our high standard up”, “Whenever we go in, we are greeted with a hug and a cup of tea. That is so important because sometimes we need to offload. It's a stress release for us. They tell us that if they look after us, then we will look after people” and “[Leaders] are always diligent, patient and never panic. [Registered manager] always has a calm response and is cheerful when situations can be difficult. They are all very supportive. If you get something wrong, they don't have a go at you. They look at how to make you understand things better, and how they can help you.” Leaders demonstrated an exceptional culture which fostered a positive and inclusive workplace.

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

They welcomed feedback from people, relatives, staff and other professionals. Feedback from people and relatives was consistently positive about how they were confident to raise concerns. A relative said, “All of the staff are excellent. I have every confidence when I contact the office that they will be able to help.” The provider had a whistleblowing policy which staff were aware of, and they knew how to raise concerns if they needed to. There was a positive culture within the service, and all staff told us they were confident to raise concerns, and that their voices would be heard. We viewed records which demonstrated the provider had taken actions and issues were dealt with. The registered manager told us, “There are many ways people and staff can provide feedback or share their concerns. If someone is not confident to talk to us, there is a comments box at the front of the office so anyone can report concerns.”

The provider strongly valued diversity in their workforce. They had an inclusive and fair culture which had improved equality and equity for people who worked for them.

The provider demonstrated a high level of empathy towards staff and their individual backgrounds. All staff gave exceptional feedback on how the provider valued them as individuals right from the start. As part of the providers recruitment process, staff completed a form to share information on their life histories, including their interests, hobbies and what was important to them. This enabled leaders to get to know each staff member exceptionally well, including their strengths and weaknesses. Inductions and ongoing support were consistently tailored to staffs’ individual and diverse needs. This personalised approach ensured staff constantly received equitable support, which enabled them to feel highly valued and motivated to deliver consistently exceptional care to people.

Staff felt empowered and extremely confident their concerns and ideas would result in positive changes and create a more equitable and inclusive organisation. We saw evidence on how staff were regularly involved in developing innovative ideas and processes to ensure they would work effectively for everyone. For example, a management role was created to support the registered managers role. It had not always worked well, and staff fed back there had been issues. The provider co-created a new governance framework for leaders with the help of the whole staff team to ensure it was effective. The providers approach had a significantly positive impact on staff to ensure that every day was a good day at work for them.

The provider consistently demonstrated exceptional commitment to an inclusive culture of promoting all staff wellbeing and team working. For example, the provider implemented a “Cheers for peers” recognition scheme. This scheme encouraged staff to nominate each other for ‘going above and beyond’ to enable people to achieve their goals and have good outcomes. We viewed evidence on achievements, including how they were shared in staff newsletters and meetings, and in the providers newsletter for people so they could celebrate staff successes too. Staff told us this process made them feel valued and inspired them to find innovative solutions to enrich people’s lives. This highly inclusive approach ensured staff remained motivated to deliver exceptionally great care to people.

The provider took active steps to ensure their workforce were representative of the population of people using the service. They recognised that not everyone would be comfortable or confident about applying for work in the care sector. Leaders held ‘open day’ recruitment events, actively reaching out to underrepresented groups of people to ensure equal opportunities for all. Staff told us these events were extremely helpful in deciding their future career paths. One staff member said, “I wasn't sure I wanted to go back into care after a long break. They sold me on Home Instead within 5 minutes. It’s a very stimulating job where we really make a difference to people’s lives.” Without exception, all staff told us there was no tolerance towards discrimination and all staff were welcomed.The provider had policies to ensure equality and diversity in the workforce. Leaders supported staff to adjust their working arrangements to accommodate their personal needs during difficult or challenging times, or in times of ill-health. One staff member said, “My [child] has been unwell recently and they have been really supportive and accommodating when I have appointments.”

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.

Feedback from people, relatives and staff was positive about management of the service and how they felt fully involved in it. Health and social care professionals were complimentary about leaders. One said, “I note their strong insight in all aspects care and health management. The management and oversight provided by [registered manager] has always appeared well led.”

A governance framework was in place which included a programme of audits, quality and risk meetings. This was designed to give an effective overview of quality of the service. Leaders attended meetings with other providers regularly to identify good practice and share learning. The provider had robust plans in place for business continuity in case of emergency or natural disasters, such as adverse weather events.

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.

Leaders worked effectively with people, relatives and other professionals to build a culture that focused on enabling people to enjoy their lives. They continued to do a ‘moments of joy’ process for people, to give them an opportunity to revitalise their emotional wellbeing and reduce social isolation. The service had a strong presence in the local community. They had established effective links across various local businesses and charities to share information, appropriately challenging barriers to people’s care and arranging bespoke social events for people. A professional told us about the benefits of the dementia café. They said, “[Provider] have created a great group of local people attending this service. It is a very fun, but safe space for people to attend with many creating great friendships. Even when their loved ones have passed, they are still attending.” This had a positive impact on people to reduce social isolation and loneliness.

The provider had a strong focus on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system.

The provider spoke passionately about how they worked with people, relatives and staff to deliver equality of experience and outcomes to enhance the quality of life for people. Staff were actively encouraged to use creative ways to engage with people to enhance their experiences of care. For example, a person with memory loss was identified to respond particularly well to music. Staff worked with the person using music as a tool to engage and build a relationship with them. One staff member even brought in their guitar to play songs that the person could sing to. We saw evidence on how this creative engagement was highly effective and relatives could not believe how this ‘stimulation had such meaningful impact’. Another person was reluctant to having a specific personal care routine. Staff worked with the person to create a calming but fun environment. This meant the routine became a more soothing sensory experience which the person said left them ‘feeling like a mermaid’. Feedback from all people and relatives was highly positive in how staff had a positive impact to enhance people’s quality of life.

The provider was pro-active in sourcing innovative ways to enhance people’s support and experiences in the wider community. The provider actively contributed to safe, effective practice and research to ensure people living with dementia and memory loss had their voices heard. They worked with local groups and charities to develop projects to research information for people living with dementia and implement improvements. For example, leaders engaged in the creation of a local ‘peer-to-peer’ community group where members talked about issues that affected them as people living with dementia. It was a safe space where people could come together to talk about their experiences and challenges they faced, including accessing community services. This enabled staff to better understand the people they supported who faced the same challenges, to provide effective personalised support and offer guidance on how to access other resources. The provider consistently demonstrated excellent partnership working with health and social care professionals and local charities. They accessed learning resources to keep them up to date with changes in the care system and best practice guidance. They actively shared learning with other agencies to ensure people could access a full range of community resources.

The provider had nurtured a positive culture where lessons were always learnt to continually identify and embed good practice. Incidents were used as an opportunity to learn and continuously improve, to ensure staff provided consistent high-quality care. People were actively involved in reviews of concerns, accidents and incidents and in planning to prevent similar events in the future. Feedback from people and relatives about the provider’s culture of being honest and sharing learning which empowered them to take control of their safety was consistently high. This demonstrated the provider had an exceptional culture of learning.