Apollo Home Healthcare Limited-Merseyside

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 provider and management team fostered a positive culture focused on delivering high-quality, personalised support for people within the comfort of their own homes. The provider placed people and their families at the centre of their care and support and was driven to consistently achieve positive outcomes for people. The provider explained how staff worked together to not only ensure people were clinically safe, but that care and support ensured people achieved their best life outcomes.

The registered manager explained how staff were recruited in adherence with the providers core values, to help ensure they were a right fit from the start. This culture was both understood and practiced by staff at every level. A member of staff told us, “I believe Apollo is well run and has the people it supports at its core.”

The management team had also fostered an inclusive relationship with people’s relatives, who were empowered to have a genuine say in their loved one’s care and support. People’s relatives were involved and valued in their loved one’s care.

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.

The provider and leaders were visible, approachable, consistent and led by example. Both the registered manager and provider demonstrated a passion and capability about their role and what they were setting out to achieve.

Leaders were committed to providing high-quality care. They were highly regarded by people, relatives and staff alike. A member of staff told us, “Our manager is lovely, I've always felt very supported, things run very smoothly under [Manager’s] control and [Manager] is pleasant to work with.”

Staff understood the vision and strategy of the provider and leaders had the experience and capability to help ensure the strategy was delivered.

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

Systems and processes enabled people, relatives and staff to express their views, including meetings and surveys. Surveys were analysed by the management team to determine if there was anything to follow up on. If so, changes were made directly in response. Comments from staff included, “I feel I'm a valued member of staff and that my opinion matters” and “I have spoken my mind on many occasions, and this has impacted change.”

People and family members told us there were opportunities to provide feedback and felt comfortable raising any issues and believed staff and managers would listen and respond. One family member confirmed, “I am asked for my feedback and opinions regularly.”

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 performance, learning and development was monitored through observations and regular contact with managers and senior staff with management responsibilities.

Equality and diversity were actively promoted, and processes were in place to help ensure staff felt treated equitably. For example, the provider had raised awareness of menopause in the workplace. A Menopause Champion had been implemented to help promote supportive and open conversations. The provider also had policies in place to support flexible working for employees with caring responsibilities.

The provider invested in leadership development, with a programme which helped to advance staff within the organisation and take on leadership roles. This helped to ensure greater retention of staff and that all staff feel supported, valued, and empowered.

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.

There registered manager had a clear understanding of their role and responsibilities in line with regulatory requirements. They knew when to notify CQC about incidents and events which occurred at the service.

The provider created their own polices to ensure they were truly adapted to the service and helped staff to not only meet legal standards but to deliver high quality care.

The registered manager and staff understood their responsibilities for ensuring risks were quickly identified and mitigated. The provider had an accurate picture of risk across the service at any one time via ongoing monitoring.

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.

There was a positive approach to working in partnership with others including Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) and other health and social care professionals.

The provider was open and collaborative with relevant stakeholders. It worked in partnership to help support care provision and joined up care. We saw examples of the provider working in partnership with external professionals to help ensure people experienced a more seamless experience of care and support.

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.

Quality assurance arrangements were in place to help identify any areas for improvement. Leaders considered information about the service’s performance and how it could be used to make the required improvements. Lessons were learned following incidents and safeguarding concerns to help support improvements in practice.

Managers took part in forums with other linked services to share information, learning and best practices.