The Care and Support Group County Durham

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 good. At this assessment the rating has remained good. This meant the service was consistently managed and well-led. Leaders and the culture created 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.

We completed the assessment due to concerns raised around cultural issues. However, we found evidence that different cultures were supported and staff shared their positive experiences.

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.

One member of staff told us; “I just love my job I have done this for many years and worked for other companies and these are more approachable.”

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. Staff were supported to be open and share concerns with the management team. The management team had responded to any concerns raised. They had set up individual one to one meetings for staff to share issues and a suggestions box was also implemented for staff to promote confidentiality when raising concerns.

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 encouraged staff from different backgrounds to share their cultures with each other and the people who used the service through sharing skills for example, cooking and international cuisine.

Staff shared examples of when discriminatory behaviour was reported, and the management team took appropriate action to challenge this behaviour and promoted inclusion with the staff team and people who use the service.

The provider had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability for good governance, however they were not always effective. Some peoples care plans didn’t always contain the most up to date information or person-centred details. This wasn’t always identified by the management team or audit processes. The management team took immediate action to update records that were not up to date during our visit.

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. People were supported by a range of healthcare professionals within their own homes, and this was reflected in people’s care plans. The provider collaborated with all partners when planning peoples care and this was evidenced within care records.

The provider focused on engaging with the staff team for continuous learning, and improvement across the organisation.

People were receiving personalised care, but care plan records didn’t always reflect this and improvement plans hadn’t identified this as a required improvement. This was highlighted to the provider during our visit. Staff were able to demonstrate how well they knew people to ensure person centred care was delivered. Records didn’t reflect the high level of individualised person centred care given by the staff team.