Solution Care 247 Northamptonshire

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 64 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

We did not look at Shared direction and culture during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

The provider had inclusive leaders who understood the context in which they delivered care, treatment and support and embodied the culture and values of their workforce and organisation. Where leaders had previously lacked knowledge and skills, they had sought guidance to improve by commissioning a consultant to support them. This support was relatively recent and there was evidence of further understanding in some areas being needed, for example, risk assessing and ensuring effective oversight of staff deployment. However, the registered and deputy managers were compassionate, caring, inclusive leaders and had developed good relationships with staff and people.

Staff told us that leaders often worked alongside them and demonstrated good practice. The manager had ensured that staff had completed nationally recommended training for supporting people with learning disabilities and ensured an inclusive culture at the service.

We did not look at Freedom to speak up during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

We did not look at Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

The provider had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability however some improvement was required to governance. For example, the provider had made improvements since our last visit to ensure that staff arrived at people’s homes as planned. However, further improvement was required to support this, there was a risk that the provider would not be aware if only 1 staff member arrived at a person that required 2 staff members. This improvement was made during the assessment and we were reassured it was an effective system. This would need to be continued and embedded in practice.

Systems and processes to maintain oversight of the safety and quality of the service were not always effective. For example, systems had not identified that risk assessments contained some generic information that was not person centred or specific of the persons needs, which could be confusing for new staff. We discussed this with the provider and the consultant supporting the service and they agreed to review this to ensure better person-centred information. This would need to be continued and embedded in practice. We also found that where a care plan stated that staff should be trained in a specific care task, the training matrix did not evidence that staff had received this training. This had not impacted on the person who was independent in this care task at the time of assessment.

Staff rotas were managed to ensure continuity of care staff for people. However, a relative told us they were not always made aware if a new staff member was going to be introduced into the care package. Although the registered manager or a senior staff member attended with new staff members, this surprise arrival did not provide opportunity to ask information about the new staff members skills and experience before they arrived.

The provider delivered a good standard of care and sustainable care, treatment and support. Contingency plans were in place to ensure care could continue in circumstances such as staff sickness or adverse weather conditions.

The provider acted on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, and shared this securely with others when appropriate.

We did not look at Partnerships and communities during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

The provider had been keen to learn and improve following their last assessment and had focused on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation. Although there was still some work to do ensuring systems and processes for quality and safety monitoring were effective the provider had made enough improvement and was no longer in breach of regulation.

There was evidence of the provider collaborating with staff to formulate action plans for improvement via structured team meetings. A staff member told us, “I feel involved in improvements through handovers, supervision and team meetings where I can get ideas and feedback. When things go wrong, we review what happened together, find solutions and put changes in place.”

The provider had commissioned a consultant to help improve the service and was open to learning guidance and change which would need to be continued and embedded into practice.

They had joined a provider forum and was using this to learn and gain experience from other providers. People told us that if they asked for improvement the provider was quick to respond and worked with them to make improvements happen.