New Horizon Care

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 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 68 (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. Feedback we received from staff showed that the provider strove to maintain a fair, open and inclusive culture. A staff member told us, “I think their values are to ensure people lead a good quality of life. I see it when they make sure, we are trained and are ready to offer support to every person to have a quality of life despite the complex needs they may have. You can see there’s a passion of making sure, no matter the challenges, someone has a good quality of life.” Staff felt safe to raise concerns, but we received mixed feedback around managers response to these. Staff comments included, “We have our meetings, I like speaking up when there are issues. I think most of the concerns we speak of in the meetings are addressed” and “We have had a lot of management changes, and I don’t feel listened to now; I am not sure the people in the office understand care on the floor.

Relatives and staff described most managers as inclusive leaders who understood the context in which they delivered care, treatment and support and embodied the culture and values of their workforce and organisation. Relative feedback about leaders included, “I have no issues with the [registered] manager. I can speak to them if needed; they are accessible” and “I like the fact staff feel like family. They are not a company just doing a service. They feel [Name] like part of the family. Nothing is too much trouble for them. If I have a problem, they always help me work it out. I would recommend New Horizon Care to anyone.” Most staff were positive about management changes and the registered manager. Staff told us, “There has been a lot of managers over the years; it’s been all over the place. Before [Name] became registered manager it was a bit messy, but I understand as they were just trying to implement the short calls and make it work. Since [registered manager] has become director, they have got it under control which is nice to see; they are building the service” and “I think it’s well managed from my point of view. It’s a place one wants to work. One of my high points with them is they listen for feedback, if you notice anything you can bring it up and someone is already taking care of it.” The registered manager demonstrated they understood staff had experienced inconsistency in leadership and this had led to some low morale. They were working to improve this through more consistent leadership and governance.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. Staff told us they felt able to raise concerns without fear and understood how to escalate issues. They described a positive culture where they could be honest about risks or mistakes. A staff member told us, “If I feel I’m not happy with something I can pick up the phone all the way to the registered manager. I’m never alone, even though we work in people’s homes we are allowed to go to office if we have questions and be with office staff.”

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 had a policy which set out clear and comprehensive arrangements to promote equality, diversity and human rights across all aspects of care. Staff told us they did not experience discrimination and described the service as inclusive. A staff member told us, “We all have breaks as per rules and regulations.” A second staff member told us, “I have a good work-life balance.”

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. Legal and regulatory requirements at the service were met and the registered managers undertaking a range of audits, checks and analysis which enabled them to have good oversight of the service. For example, the registered manager was aware staff consistency needed to improve in some areas and had begun to make improvements to address people and staff concerns. The provider was introducing new data led systems and processes which facilitated improved oversight at provider level and had implemented electronic care planning to further support oversight and improve information shared with staff. However, although the improvements we identified during this assessment were responded to by the registered manager in an open and transparent way, governance processes had not identified the concerns. This demonstrated further improvements were needed to ensure systems were fully effective in supporting monitoring and oversight. The provider communicated expectations around confidentiality, General Data Protection Regulation [GDPR] and correct reporting, supporting safe information handling. Overall, they demonstrated governance arrangements that monitored quality, responded to issues and supported sustainable, well‑led care.

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’s partnership working ensured care was coordinated and safe. The registered manager explained that they collaborated with a clinical lead when people required specialist care, ensuring appropriate oversight and supervision. They stated they would work with multidisciplinary teams and arrange specialist training before supporting people with higher clinical needs and this was confirmed by staff. Staff described working with external professionals, such as district nurses, physiotherapists and mental health teams, which showed that partnership working already formed part of routine practice.

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. The provider focused on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. There were a range of monitoring and audit tools to assess and monitor the delivery of care and support to people. The service had systems in place for learning and improvements with feedback being sought from, people, relatives and staff to ensure there was a culture of continuous improvement. Prior to our inspection, the provider had implemented improvements including electronic care records and was planning further improvements around monitoring and oversight. Additionally, they had introduced a new tier of staff to respond to staff absence with the aim of improving consistency for people and support for staff.