Care Quality Services Brighton and Hove

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 management team and staff all spoke with passion about their commitment to deliver high quality community care. There was an open-door policy at the office where staff could drop in to discuss any concerns or issues they may have. Staff were also given regularly opportunities to feedback without the need to come to the office, with regular contact with the field supervisors. Staff told us they were confident that any concerns raised would be dealt with quickly with a focus on learning, not blaming, to drive improvement.

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 were supported and spoke positively about the management team, who they always felt able to contact for information and advice. One staff member said, “There’s always someone at the end of the phone. I’ve never had an issue getting hold of someone.” Another told us, “That is the one thing they definitely really care about, our wellbeing. They are all very supportive.”

The service had a robust on-call policy so staff always knew who to contact outside of office hours should they need to. Regular formal supervisions took place between staff and the management team. There were also regular team meetings to share any areas of improvement or learning. Staff felt their voices were heard and spoke of meetings being a useful learning tool.

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

There was a suitable whistleblowing policy in place and all staff spoken with demonstrated a good knowledge of how to raise any concerns. Staff felt listened to and heard with a strong working relationship with their field supervisors. The branch manager was fostering an open-door policy which enabled staff to contact them with any concerns should they need to.

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 supported flexible ways of working when this was necessary to enable staff to maintain good working patterns and fairness across the team. Staff had undertaken equality and diversity training and treated each other with respect.

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.

Regular quality assurance checks were completed by the management team. Numerous checks were completed by the field supervisors on a daily basis, such as medicine checks and the quality of daily notes. The branch manager had robust oversight of the quality of the service and was supported by the regional managers with this. Direct observations of staff were completed regularly whilst they were supporting people, to ensure their practice remained at the highest quality. Some people told us that they had not yet met the branch manager, who was new in the role, but there was a plan in place to improve this. The branch manager had a good knowledge of the duty of candour and had reported any incidents to the appropriate agencies, including notifying the Care Quality Commission when necessary.

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 and management worked alongside other community-based services such as GP’s and pharmacies to ensure people received the services they required. The staff also supported people to access local community facilities such as shops, if this was required.The branch manager had strong working relationships with other services in the area and regularly attended manager forums run by the local authority and other agencies.

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.

Managers and staff were committed to learning from any incidents that occurred. They responded positively and proactively to feedback provided during the inspection process. Staff told us that they were always being given the opportunity to learn and develop. They had access to a wide range of training and could request anything additional should they wish.The provider worked in an innovative way with technology to drive improvements in the service. They had recently introduced the use of artificial intelligence in care planning and daily notes to support staff in spending more time helping people. The service worked well alongside other professionals to share learning and make improvements if needed.