Essence Health Ltd

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. This is the first assessment for this newly registered service. This key question has been rated 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 75 (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 provider had a vision in place to support their business to grow. There were regular meetings to discuss progress and set goals and consider the actions taken. The focus of the vision was to deliver person-centred care to people using the service, attract and retain staff to work for the service and to build relationships with local commissioners. Partners told us they had no concerns with the provider and the quality of the support they provided to people was person-centred. People and staff were positive about the service and the way it was managed including having visits from the registered manager to check if they were happy with the service.

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. Partners told us they visited the provider regularly to conduct audits and the registered manager was engaged in this process. Staff told us they felt supported by the registered manager who was always available to offer support and advice.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. The registered manager had a policy in place which supported staff to raise any concerns they may have. Staff told us they felt confident any concerns raised would be addressed. The provider’s safeguarding policy referenced whistleblowing and described for staff how they could raise concerns if needed. Staff were aware of this policy.

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 ensured staff were valued and there was diversity in the workforce through a range of policies in place. The provider had an equality and diversity policy in place which supported them to consider the protected characteristics of staff. The recruitment and selection policy also aimed to ensure the most suitable candidates were chosen for roles and all applicants received equitable treatment throughout the process. The registered manager told us they had made adjustments for staff and gave the example of adjusting the staff uniform to meet a staff member’s cultural needs.

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. The provider had systems in place to check on the quality of the service people received. They used regular spot checks on people’s calls to ensure staff were following policies and procedures and people were treated with kindness and dignity. Checks were carried out on the completed daily records and medicines administration records to ensure people had their needs met in line with their care plans. Peoples experience of the service was regularly discussed in the quarterly management meetings which aimed to review progress of the service.

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. Partners engaged with the service told us the registered manager was very eager to grow and develop their business. The registered manager told us how they had been collaborating with local partners to focus on small support, which was a process with a local commissioner for small businesses to enable them to grow.

The provider focused on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. The registered manager undertook regular surveys with people and staff. We saw surveys to staff indicated they all strongly agreed with being able to recommend the provider as an employer and people responded positively in a survey to staff always using protective equipment, being asked to consent to care, and being happy with the support they received. The registered manager proactively sought opportunities to learn and engaged with local commissioners to learn about opportunities for development.