Furlong House

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 they created promoted high-quality, person-centred care.

This service scored 71 (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 manager ensured staff received support to deliver the vision for the service. The vision set out the values and culture of the organisation in a behavioural framework. Staff were aware of the requirements and could describe how they ensured people were supported in line with the company values.

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 spoke highly of the management team and felt they were accessible to them when they needed support. However, relatives shared mixed views about the management team, with some not really knowing who the manager was or having any contact with them. Some relatives said they had experienced difficulties in speaking with the management team.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. The provider had a whistleblowing policy in place. Staff understood how to report any concerns and felt confident anything they shared would be addressed. People also felt able to seek help and have concerns addressed. A person told us, “I can always speak to someone if I need to and they do everything they can to help.”

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 an equality and diversity policy in place which all staff were aware of. The provider had systems in place to ensure staff had their needs considered and gave the example of discussing individual cultural needs in supervision when needed to ensure these could be met for staff. The manager said they had individual discussions with staff about equality and diversity.

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. Audits were carried out to check on the care people received. Medicines audits confirmed people had received the required support to safely administer medicines. Other audits included ensuring people’s safety was maintained and their care calls were delivered. These audits ensured the provider had systems in place to govern the service effectively.

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. Staff told us they worked with a range of different agencies to deliver people’s care. The manager told us they engaged with other agencies in assessments and care plans. Staff were able to describe how they collaborated with the other agencies to ensure people received care which was seamless.

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 had a continuous improvement plan in place which ensured any areas identified for improvement were actioned. There were annual reports in place to share learning from safeguarding, infection prevention control and complaints. The provider used these processes to make improvements to the service.