Kardinal Healthcare 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.

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 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 managers and provider demonstrated an inclusive culture and spoke of incentives available to staff which rewarded good practice and personal development. Staff told us how they were supported as employees and encouraged with their own development.

People and relatives told us they valued the culture of the organisation. One person said, “No issue here, in fact fabulous company, communication is amazing.”

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.

Managers and the provider were actively involved in aspects of support and communication. Managers demonstrated their knowledge of good care practice during the assessment visit and were confidently able to talk about the care and support needs of all the people they supported. They spoke of people and staff with respect and genuine regard. A staff member remarked, “One thing I really appreciate about my manager is they listen then take action, it's not just empty words.”

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

Staff told us they had regular staff meetings and private supervision meetings, which gave them opportunities to speak up or generally talk about ideas or improvements.

One staff said, “I've spoken up a few times and never experienced negative come back, open approach.” And “Things I've brought up have been listened to.” Another staff member told us, “I’m confident to speak up.”

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.

Staff had received equality and diversity training as part of their training within the service.

The provider and leaders ensured equality of opportunity and experience for the workforce was in place, for example, adjustments to work patterns to accommodate religious events or needs. One staff member said, “Definitely [Name of manager] supports us whatever problem you have, and I think he respects me.”

The provider ensured that protected characteristics of those they supported were also considered as part of this approach. Care planning captured how these diverse needs and characteristics impacted their care needs and what adjustments were needed to support them.

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 a range of quality assurance processes, and these were generally effective in identifying areas where improvements could be made. However, they were in the process of making better use of the system by developing the ability to run specific reports. The managers and provider conducted regular audits to ensure the good quality of service was being delivered to people. Staff meetings were held, quality was discussed and issues were resolved. Regular observations were carried out by managers and senior staff, this gave leaders opportunities to observe care delivery, check the quality of record keeping, time keeping and receive direct feedback from people. One staff member told us, “I have done audits on staff call times and notes.” A manager showed us how they audit people’s care records, and the daily notes staff made. These were used to identify trends which were actioned where needed. The provider measured the service’s compliance against CQC’s assessment framework to continually improve and develop.

The provider understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, so services worked seamlessly for people.

People were supported by a variety of health and social care professionals to ensure their needs were met. Managers and staff made referrals to health professionals when required.The provider shared information to ensure effective joined up working. Records demonstrated robust collaboration with external professionals and families, whilst keeping the person at the centre of their care and support.

For example, working with health professionals to ensure epilepsy guidance was up to date, and working with social workers and occupational therapists to ensure people had access to items such as mobility equipment as they needed.

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 and managers demonstrated an open transparent approach to learning and were keen to develop based on outcomes and the quality of life for both people they supported and staff. Managers told us how lessons learnt from incidents had been reviewed by the team, resulting in change. Staff gave examples of the focus on continuous learning in operation at the service. One example was a recent staff meeting focusing on learning more about autistic spectrum condition, this had been arranged at staff requests so they could better support an autistic person.

The provider had recently sent out surveys and whist not all were yet returned, the feedback had begun to be reviewed. The provider told us they were keen to listen to people and expressed willingness to continually learn and develop.