Home Instead Mid Cornwall

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

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 82 (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. The service was flexible, responsive, and focused on enabling people to live their best lives.

The provider referred to the care staff as ‘care professionals’ and their mission was clear; “Our mission is to improve and professionalise the experience of working in care in Cornwall. We believe only by doing this can we provide the highest standard of relationship driven care for older people.”

Care staff had guaranteed hours even when care packages ended. Feedback from staff was consistently positive about the support they received. They told us they felt valued and listened to and how this was the best service they had worked for. “The level of training, shadowing visits, recommend to anybody, head and shoulders above the rest.”

Professionals were constantly complimentary of the support provided; they recognised staff skills and the service’s dedication to providing individualised care. Professionals comments included “They are committed to serving the local community and to best serve the people’s needs in the area.” and “Feel more than happy signposting people to them.”

People who used the service were constantly complimentary of the support they received. Their comments included, “I think staff training is excellent.” “Care has been brilliant and flexible the whole time” and “The service they provide has certainly stopped me feeling isolated. I never realised how easily that can happen when you live on your own, especially with health issues.”

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 led care. They led with compassion and inclusivity to achieve consistently high standards. Leaders facilitated people to experience very positive outcomes by ensuring exceptional planning to care delivery to ensure needs were fully understood and facilitated strong relationships with external professionals All people, relatives and staff gave consistently high feedback about the leaders.

Staff spoke very highly of the manager and how they felt valued. A staff member told us of their experience when they were due to have an operation. The manager called and asked if they needed anything and how they were feeling about the operation, the manager told the staff member “don’t worry about us worry about yourself.”

Further comments from staff included, “manager/office is very supportive, ring, text or email, they do deal with stuff”, “Very good, take all the responsibility, would tell the office anything that you came across and the office would sort out like contacting family, GP , they are like family”, and “They genuinely do care about staff and clients and cater for health conditions.”

The provider’s director and manager set a clear vision for high-quality person-led care and fostered a culture of continuous improvement. They were approachable, engaged positively with operational decision making when requested and supported leaders effectively. The director was based in the service’s office full time and supported the manager during the assessment process.

Involved professionals were complimentary of leadership and recognised the service’s willingness to support people. Professionals told us, “Leaders have always been flexible, if they can help they will, sometimes for emergency care provision and they support the team of carers well”, “We shared packages of care, these were always successful and we felt confident and happy working with their team”, “I have visited their office and was made to feel very welcome. I have also seen the director at meetings, provider forums, and sector conferences.”

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

People knew how to contact managers if they had any concerns. Contact details of the service, including information on the complaints procedure was available in people’s homes. People told us, “No never complained, but if I had to, I know it would be dealt with.”

Staff were also able to voice their opinions both during supervisions and team meetings. Staff told us, “They do listen and act upon information,” “would recommend others to work here.”

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 valued the diversity of their workforce. The cultural and religious needs of staff were respected and requests for reasonable adjustments to working patterns were looked on favourably. One staff member had a medical condition, and adjustments were made so no heavy lifting was involved.

Staff told us they were treated fairly by their manager, were well supported and encouraged to develop their skills. Their comments included, “Manager and the owner are very approachable”, and “They do check in on us, always phone to see if we are alright”, and “The best people I have ever worked for” …, “Feel well looked after, best firm I’ve worked for when supporting people.”

The provider supported a carer with dyslexia by implementing audio notes on their digital care planning app and ensured internal auditors were sensitive when giving feedback regarding spelling errors.

All care staff completed training on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and Human Rights, fostering a respectful and inclusive workplace culture. The provider encouraged care staff to deliver care that promoted equality and celebrated diversity by focusing on person led approaches, treating people uniquely, and ensuring personal beliefs did not influence their care interactions. Care staff were encouraged to share ideas on how to improve the experience of working for Home Instead.

The provider had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance. They used these to manage and deliver high-quality, sustainable care, treatment, and support. They always acted on the best information about risk, performance, and outcomes, and shared this securely with others when appropriate.

The provider had quality assurance and auditing processes designed to drive improvements in performance. Where issues had been identified, these were discussed in regular senior meetings and plans developed to make necessary improvements.

Professionals feedback on the service’s leadership was overwhelmingly positive, valuing the effectiveness of the service’s communication. One professional who worked regularly with the service told us, “I have worked with Home Instead (Mid Cornwall) for a number of years now…The staff team have always been a proactive positive care provider who communicates well with the frailty team via email, telephone call, or face to face visits for any new clients we may have asked them to consider supporting.”

A governance framework included a programme of audits and quality and risk meetings. This was designed to give an effective overview of quality of the service. Home Instead is a franchise office, within a defined geographical area, peer support from other franchise managers was available and provided a quality assurance function to carry out mock inspections. The provider had plans 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.

The provider worked effectively with people, relatives, and other professionals to build a culture that focused on enabling people to enjoy their lives. The provider had a strong presence in the local community and had recently supported Parkinson’s UK by taking over the leadership of a local Parkinson’s café that provides support to people living with Parkinson’s Disease.

One person living with advancing dementia had been able to continue with their love of singing by attending a specialist local choir.

Following a fall at home, which had resulted an injury, a person was able to remain at home safely and supported by the care staff. The service liaised daily with the Hospital at Home team, local GP practice, and the frailty nurse to provide the required care. This included overnight care with care staff who the person knew and had already built a trusted relationship with. With this extra help they were able to stay at home and recovered well.

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.

Staff were actively encouraged to use creative ways to engage with people to enhance their experiences of care. For example, in some instances people were given tools such as whiteboards or notebooks to aid communication. Additionally, care staff had facilitated the use of technology, such as tablets, to maintain connections with family and friends and support groups.

The provider invested in continuous professional development for their staff, offering regular training on best practices, new care techniques, and updates in healthcare regulations. This meant staff skills remained current, relevant, and improved the quality of care.

The provider partnered with Parkinson’s UK to share training expertise and completed Train the Trainer courses so care staff received specialised training working with clients living with Parkinson’s Disease. The provider has taken over the leadership of a local Parkinson’s café that provided support to people living with Parkinson’s Disease. This demonstrated the provider had an exceptional culture of learning.