Home Instead East Dorset & Blandford

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• 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 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. All staff worked in collaboration to ensure a quality service for people. There was an open-door policy, and staff had the opportunity to take part in the running of the service by contributing to one to one and team meetings. The provider said, “I believe we have a strong culture of trust, honesty and respect. Our statement that we all agreed as a team is ‘Together we strive to provide a service that brings happiness, kindness and reassurance to the people we care for’ and (my) team live and breathe delivering this.”

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. Staff were provided with appropriate training and support to develop further in their roles. Staff told us, “[Provider, registered manager and management team] have always been supportive, they are very much centred on staff well-being, training and professional growth. I personally feel appreciated by them; my work is appreciated and rewarded.”

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. The provider said, “We actively encourage staff to speak to us about any issues. In training we talk about the importance of recognising, reporting, and recording and that staff will not be ‘in trouble’ if they let know something is not right. We encourage all feedback to improve the service. Each year the care professionals are sent a survey that they complete anonymously to encourage true and accurate feedback.” Staff said, “If I had any concerns, I would hesitate to bring it up, they encourage us all if we aren't happy about something to bring it up.”

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. Managers identified when staff needed any additional support and responded flexibly. Staff told us they felt valued and listened to.

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. Staff completed a range of audits to monitor the quality of the service. The outcome of audits was regularly discussed by the management team in weekly meetings to ensure consistent good quality.

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 worked exceptionally well with other services in the community to share information with the public. For example, the provider facilitated regular information sharing session at the local weekly market providing information to the public on subjects such as the importance of hydration and nutrition. The provider had organised information sessions relating to dementia care and invited members of the community to these sessions to support their understanding. The provider supported local sports clubs to enable communities to continue with the sports they enjoyed. Opportunities to take part in these sporting events were available to people who used 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 and management team encouraged a culture of continuous improvement. Weekly meetings were held to discuss the regularly sought feedback from people using the service and staff. Incidents and accidents alerts were discussed and any identified actions to improve were taken. The provider said, “We set objectives and targets following these meetings to ensure continuous improvement.”