Inner City Care, Sherwood 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 requires improvement. At this assessment the rating has changed to 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 clear shared vision and fostered a culture of equality and inclusion across their staffing team. Staff induction included information on the providers values and expectations. The provider’s mission statement ‘A better way to care,’ was instilled in staff’s induction, supervisions, team meetings and end of year appraisals.

Throughout the assessment process the leadership team were open and honest and open to feedback from the inspection team. They were keen to learn and improve and had a good understanding of the needs of people they care for.

Staff described the positive working relationships and environment. Phrases such as “we are a family” showed the positive working culture at this provider.

The provider had inclusive leaders at all levels who understood the context in which they delivered care 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.

Management had the experience, capacity, capability, and integrity to ensure that the organisational vision can be delivered, and risks are well managed. Leaders at every level were visible and led by example, modelling inclusive behaviours.

High-quality leadership was sustained through safe, effective, and inclusive recruitment and succession planning.The operational manager worked closely with the registered manager to ensure the smooth running of this service. Both worked closely with the deputy manager, ensuring they received the opportunity to develop their roles.

Staff praised the management of this service. Staff described the registered manager and other leaders as “approachable.”

People and relatives spoke positively about leadership. A person said, “The manager is approachable and sorts any issues. They are helpful and do anything for you and are kind and genuinely seem interested in me and my welfare and wellbeing.” A relative said, “I know the manager and you can ring them anytime.”

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard.

Staff and leaders actively encouraged staff to raise concerns and promote the value of doing so. All staff were confident that their voices would be heard. When things went wrong, swift action was taken to make improvements and (where needed) apologies were made to those affected.

A suggestion box had been put in place for staff to give their views.This was then followed by a 'You said, we did' section of the monthly newsletter. This included a ‘Coffee Morning’ for staff and more face-to-face training being made available. This was implemented as well as a full time trainer being employed to provide face-to-face training. Staff welcomed this.

The provider had an appropriate policy for Whistleblowing which staff were aware of, and staff felt there was a culture of openness, they could speak up and would be listened to. Guidance was in place should staff wish to report their concerns to external agencies such as CQC. Staff understood this process.

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 valued diversity in their workforce. They worked towards an inclusive and fair culture by improving equality and equity for staff.

Staff were from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures. Many staff for example followed the Islamic faith and the provider had ensured religious holidays such as Ramadan were respected and rotas altered to support staff.

Staff were kept informed of their rights. For example, a newsletter had recently been sent to staff advising them of what leave they could take should they face a bereavement.

Staff felt the provider valued diversity in their workforce. One staff member told us, “It’s a very nice place to work, as all the staff and colleagues are very nice and cooperative and there are growth opportunities as well.”

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 ensured all staff understood their role and responsibilities and there was proactive systems of accountability and good governance. The provider used this system to manage and deliver good quality care and support. The provider acted on any information received about risk, performance, and outcomes.

The provider had invested in technology that supported their oversight of the service and had robust governance processes in place. We saw examples of how the system supported the leadership team to oversee care delivery and they had analysed data on risk to identify trends and themes and corrective action identified which they added to a “live” service improvement plan.

Wide-ranging quality monitoring processes were in place. This enabled the provider to identify good practice and areas for improvement such as safeguarding concerns, accidents, staff performance and medicines. A future business plan was in place. This detailed how the service planned to expand the business and well as continually improving the quality of the care provided. This was discussed with staff and where appropriate people and their relatives.

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.

We saw evidence of collaboration with partners which included appropriate information sharing and engaging external partners to support with improvements to people’s care.

The provider played an active role in the community. The provider was a leading player in the local ‘Active and Healthy Minds’ campaign. This is a programme to encourage and support people to play active roles in their local community with the aim to improve their personal wellbeing.

The provider also supported numerous local charities and most recently staff had taken part in the ‘Red Ribbon Walk’ to raise funds and awareness of Breast Cancer.

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.

Staff and leaders had a good understanding of how to make improvements happen. The approach was consistent and included measuring outcomes and impact. Staff and leaders ensured that people using the service, their families and carers participated in developing and evaluating improvement and innovation initiatives.

The provider had implemented electronic systems to support them to review outcomes for people and made changes as identified which contributed to the safe and effective running of the service. For example, monitoring staff punctuality, accidents and incidents and staff training requirements.

A family portal was in the process of being tested and implemented. This was to enable authorised family members to access parts of their relative’s care records to review what care had been provided and to hold the provider to account should they feel improvements were needed.

Each week the provider sent out a reminder for staff to review a specific company policy. This was to ensure staff were aware of all policies in place and any changes that could affect their role, and the care provided for people.

As well as an extensive training programme, the provider had issued staff members with pocket-sized reminder cards that gave staff instant access to information they may need when providing care. These include medicine protocols, obtaining consent, and dignity ‘Do’s and Don’ts.’