Civicare East Ltd Also known as Abacus Care (Essex) Limited

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 changed to outstanding. This meant service leadership was exceptional and distinctive. Leaders and the culture they created promoted 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 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.

The registered manager told us, “Our core key value is family values, not only providing the same outstanding service that would meet and exceed our own expectations for a loved one but to promote the active participation of family members in care planning and decision making, supporting and maintaining strong families and offering a holistic and strength based approach. Our approach aims to promote independence to remain in the family home.”

Staff were supported to deliver high quality care and support to people in line with the provider’s vision and values for the service, this was achieved in the form of team meetings, supervision, competency checks, observation of staff practice when carrying out visits to people’s homes and feedback provided by people and their relatives.

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 did so with integrity, openness and honesty.

The registered manager and management team had an open door policy where people, relatives, staff and other professionals could contact them. The registered manager told us, “We have an open ethos with a clear vision and values. We are passionate about the service we provide. We are a family run business and the service we provide reflects our strong family values that support person-centred care delivery, ensuring people are fully involved in their care planning and treated with respect and dignity. We rely on word of mouth for advertisement and recruitment over the past 20 years. Our strong leadership puts our service users first and at the centre of their care.”

Throughout the assessment, the management team demonstrated a strong understanding of the service and the people they support, showcasing their ability to effectively assess and address individuals needs. People and relatives all told us they knew who the registered manager and management team were and spoke positively about the service provided. Comments included, “The management team check on me every couple of weeks to see how I am. They are very professional, caring and friendly, it is a pleasure to have them in your home” and “it is a well-managed service. They phone if there is any problem with staffing. If you want any different support, they are very accommodating.”

The registered manager and management team were extremely visible and accessible to staff working in the service. Examples of this support provided, is included in examples used in the caring, responsive and well-led sections of this report. Staff were very confident any concerns, suggestions or ideas they raised would be listened to and acted upon. Comments included, “The service is well managed they have an open door policy, and I feel very supported by the organisation”, “We work together as a team, they are a very good care company, not only to work for but also very caring” and “I have been here a long time, it is a nice firm to work for, very supportive and there is good team work.”

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. The provider had a whistle-blowing policy, which staff received and understood. This meant that staff knew the actions they should take should their concerns regarding people’s care and support were not listened to and acted upon.

The registered manager was the ‘Whistle Blowing champion’ for the service and gathered the views of staff in various ways, including team meetings, supervision meetings, comments suggestion box and by promoting an open door policy where staff were able to come into the office to have a chat. The provider used this information to improve care and support for people and to promote staff development.

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 was passionate about ensuring they promoted their values and demonstrated a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion through behaviour, positive interaction, leadership and exceptional efforts to promote an inclusive environment for all.

The management team told us, “Civicare East Ltd have been a Disability Confident Employer since 2018 and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion shines through in everything we do from recruitment practices to preferred pronouns on ID Badges. All staff are trained in Level 2 Equality and Diversity and are learning British Sign Language with signs of the month in our newsletters. We have a dedicated Equality, Diversity and Inclusion section in staff and service user newsletters.”

The service had a diverse team who were encouraged to share their practices and values with one another creating an informed environment which enabled staff to better understand the needs of the clients they supported. Ethnic street food markets were held as part of the services groups and clinics which were held monthly.

The service had created their own equality, diversity, inclusion and human rights interactive board game to support staff learning and understanding of the subject.

The leadership team and staff had created a Cedar tree which stood for ‘Civicare, Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Tree’. The inspiration was to showcase how strong a team can be together and represented some of the service’s core values such as respect and dignity. Its roots were made up of clients past and present, handprints with their names and 5 passions on each fingertip and the leaves were made from the team’s inspirational quotes as a reminder of workplace inclusivity. The significance being to provide encouragement to the staff team to value their and other people’s differences and empower them to bring these differences to work. The registered manager told us, “We have created a more engaged and united workforce which has proved critical to our success over the years.”

The provider followed outstanding practice guidance within their Equality and Diversity policy which included risk assessments, staff training any workforce inequalities being identified via notifications, whistleblowing, support groups, monitoring employment processes, supervisions, surveys, spot checks, feedback mechanisms including suggestion boxes and analysis of data.

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.

Both the management team and staff had an exceptional understanding of their roles and responsibilities across the service. Robust systems and processes were in place to effectively monitor data and information to improve the quality of care. The registered manager recognised outstanding standards and best practice to continually improve equity in experience and outcomes for people using the service and tackle known inequalities.

Governance was well embedded into the running of the service. There was a strong framework of accountability to monitor performance and risk leading to the delivery of demonstrable quality improvements to the service. The provider had a service improvement plan, this was a working document which the provider measured the service’s compliance against CQC’s single assessment framework to continually shape, improve, innovate and develop the service. This was shared with staff to discuss progress in team meetings.

Staff were positive about the management of the service and were able to feedback about the service in staff meetings, supervision, surveys or by visiting the office. Comments included, “We get spot checks, and they [management team] observe us (staff). I am confident, the office is always there for back up and will come out if we need them,” “The service is well managed, and we need to ensure we follow the policies and procedures at all times.” And “I would have no objections to any of my relatives using the service. People get a good service; we go the extra mile.”

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 registered manager and management team had built good working relationships with other external health and social care professionals, this collaborative approach helped to ensure people’s needs were being met. These included physiotherapists, social workers, GP’s and district nurses.

Staff monitored people’s health and welfare and reported any concerns to the management team who worked in partnership with people and or their relatives to ensure referrals were made to the appropriate health care professionals when required.

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.

The management team had devised innovative ways to support staff with their learning and understanding of certain subjects and had made interactive board games which related to subjects such as lone working and equality, diversity, inclusion and human rights. The HR and finance manager told us, “We have received excellent feedback. Staff found it “fun and engaging” and found “it made learning more enjoyable.” Many staff also prefer training in group sessions saying it “provides opportunities for social skills development and collaboration.” They also introduced ‘Friend against Scams’ training to all staff to enable them to potentially recognise and report any signs of people who may be being exploited for financial gain, whether it be over the telephone or via social media contact.

The service had also created a sensory story library aimed at exploring multiple senses with people using the service. Staff were able to access the sensory boxes to take to people’s homes these helped with reminiscence, sensory processing and development, fine motor skills, cognitive development, emotional and behavioural regulation and social and communication skills. There were 9 sensory stories in total with sounds, scents, and visuals to create an immersive storytelling experience. The stories included going on a walk, a trip to the beauticians, oh I do like to be beside the seaside and a shopping trip. In each box is a card with ideas for staff on how to expand the story, such as songs like, I can sing a rainbow when using the sensory scarves on a walk, hand massages at the beauticians or blowing on their nails to dry them or making beep noises at the tills of the supermarket. Feedback from people/relatives whom staff have shared the boxes with had been extremely positive.

The learning and development manager had recently become the services hydration champion as they had identified during their focused ‘hydration week’ the need to support and encourage people in other ways to increase their fluid intake. This started the introduction of jelly drops which are a sweet made up predominately of water, electrolytes and vitamins designed to increase fluid intake particularly people living with dementia, the elderly and others who struggle to stay hydrated.

The registered manager and management team consistently kept themselves up to date with best practice as far as health and social care was concerned. The registered manager told us, “We have a log in to the Care Quality Commissions online portal and we are aware of what changes, events and incidents to submit as this is detailed on the CQC website. Copies of this are included in our daily staff meeting audit. We complete the PIR (provider information return) to keep records live, we listen to CQC podcasts and regularly visit the CQC website as part of our audits to ensure compliance and meet outstanding practices. We adapt to change and embrace change to broaden our perspective.”