Family Support Care Limited

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 68 (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 said staff were helped to understand the key values of the service through the induction process, where they ensure staff are well-prepared and ready to give their best to service users. One staff member showed us the values shared with new staff during the induction.

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.

However, one partner and a relative told us they were not confident the senior management team had the skills or training to undertake their management role. We raised this concern with the provider who explained he had a succession plan in place and was in the process of training the management team to understand the role of a registered manager, and staff we spoke with confirmed this. Staff told us they felt supported by the registered manager.

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

Processes were in place for employees to speak up including ways to feedback anonymously. Team meetings and supervisions were held regularly and records showed staff were encouraged to raise their concerns. One staff we spoke with confirmed they can provide feedback anonymously and other staff confirmed regular meetings and supervisions take place where they have opportunities to raise concerns. One staff member said they have regular opportunities in team meetings to express themselves and ask questions.

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.

Processes were in place to ensure staff were supported appropriately in the workplace, for example health assessments were completed during the recruitment process and reasonable adjustments were made. One staff member said, “I have no concerns, we are treated equally.” Another staff member said, “I am treated fairly.”

The provider did not always have clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability or good governance. They did not always act on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, or share this securely with others when appropriate.

The provider had not notified CQC about an incident which affect service users; however, they had raised safeguarding incidents with the local authority. We raised this with the registered manager who confirmed the actions they would take to ensure notifications are sent to CQC as required.

The provider did not consistently follow their own policies around staff recruitment to ensure appropriate checks were made and recorded about staff gaps in employment. We found small gaps in 3 out of 4 staff’s employment history. The provider sent us assurances these checks had been made with staff since the inspection.

However, governance systems, such as audits and spot checks, took place regularly and were used effectively to continually improve the service. Staff meetings and supervisions also took place regularly.

The provider had not established a consistent approach to working in partnership with others to ensure advice is sought and acted on effectively.

We received mixed feedback from partners in relation to the provider seeking timely support from health professionals. Whilst one partner confirmed they do receive timely referrals from the provider; 2 other partners told us referrals were often prompted by professionals or relatives. For example, one partner said, ‘I think it’s clear that the support staff try their best to put the interests of the people they support first, but quite often they may need additional support from professionals to ensure they are trying or implementing new support approaches when something may not be working. I felt this need for support is not often sought but only discovered it’s needed during a formal review process.’ Another partner said, ’The senior management team appear to lack experience in relation to their roles…Referrals are often only made when prompted by visitors or family members.’ The partner also felt advice given to the senior team was not rolled out effectively to support staff to ensure guidance was put in to practice in a timely way.

However, other partners expressed a confidence in the registered manager. One partner said there has been a ‘drastic improvement’ since they [partner] had got involved. They told us, ‘The registered manager makes it possible to action queries promptly and professionally.’’

The provider told us they worked in partnership with health professionals, relatives and people they support. Leaders told us they have regular meetings with health professionals and family, for example during times of distress for a person. The provider said how they collaborated with Speech and Language Therapy to support the introduction of new activities for a person. Additionally, the provider said they make efforts to provide social engagement through events like barbecues for their service users and families.

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.

Leaders said they had introduced weekly team meetings with staff and people to discuss concerns and resolve any issues. One staff member said they had suggested improvements to help a person manage their finances better. This meant they had money to buy the things they needed.

The provider and staff confirmed how staff were encouraged to undertake vocational training to support their career development.

The provider said they had introduced an initiative to support staff to learn to drive, and staff confirmed this. Another staff member said how the provider reinforces good practice by awarding a ‘staff of the month’ voucher to nominated staff members.

The provider said they had supported a company with the knowledge they had about care to develop a new electronic care application which is now used by the provider and other care services to help enhance efficiency and compliance in their services.