Living Ambitions Limited - Essex

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 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.

Throughout our visits to the locations, we observed staff were committed to providing a good service to people. The registered manager had good knowledge of which locations were doing well and the ones that might need extra support and oversight. A staff member told us, “The culture of organisation is good. It is nice to know when I come in, we all get on well.” Another staff member said, “The team have welcomed me there is good teamwork. We will always be open, honest and discuss things together. Team morale is high and really good here. Sometimes staff will question but it is about communicating with each other. We all work well together.”

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 registered manager understood the importance of onsite leadership and had a team of service managers supporting the direct oversight of each location. Staff were positive about the leadership team. A staff member told us, “[Registered manager] is very supportive. I speak to them daily.” Another staff member said, “[Service manager] supports and encourages me and makes me feel at ease. Any challenges I face. They check in on me. [Service manager] is always there for me.”

Overall people and relatives were positive about the leadership team. A person told us, “[Service manager] has done really well and turned this place around.” A relative said, “It’s generally well lead and managed, right from the first informal meeting to actually moving in.”

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

People we spoke with told us they were able to voice any concerns through living together meetings or individual meetings they held with staff. However, relatives had mixed views about their involvement. A relative told us, “[Person] can express their wishes to staff and the local authority guardian.” Another relative said, “I have no care plan involvement, but they do tell me their decisions.”

Staff told us they had various ways they could speak up and would be confident to do so. A staff member said, “I would always speak up but I have never had an issue. I would be confident to speak up.” Team meetings and supervision sessions demonstrated processes were in place to listen to staff and share ideas.”

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. They supported new and existing staff by making reasonable adjustments to enable them to meet the needs of people living in the services. This included recruiting staff with health conditions and supporting staff with gender identity needs.

The service promoted events celebrating diversity both locally and through central communications on their internal platform. For example, a group of staff and people supported by Lifeways attended a parade locally supporting diversity and inclusion, demonstrating the provider’s commitment to inclusion and representation. Another service told us about their plans to celebrate different staff cultures. A staff member said, “We are looking at exploring staff culture and celebrating their own culture through food to enable people and staff to experience food from other cultures.”

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. However, we identified that more consistency was needed across locations to ensure all people receiving a service received good outcomes.

The provider used a tiered governance structure where checks and audits at various levels were uploaded to an electronic system to retain good oversight. There were some differences in standards across locations as stated in other areas of this report. However, we did note when shortfalls were identified in relation to care records, mental capacity assessments, medicines and risk management the registered manager and senior staff responded proactively to our requests for information.

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.

The registered manager demonstrated a positive approach to receiving support and understood how and where to access external resources. The service worked closely with specialist teams and professionals, including the learning disability team, speech and language therapists (SALT), occupational therapists, social workers, and health professionals. This ensured people received timely and coordinated care tailored to their needs. Overall, partnership working was embedded in practice, promoting continuity of care and improving outcomes for people.

The provider focused on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. They actively contributed to safe, effective practice and research. However, more consistency was needed to ensure outcomes for people and standards were consistent across all locations.

Overall, we found all the locations in this service eager to learn and to improve outcomes for the people they supported. The registered manager told us they shared any onsite feedback we provided at each location with others, and we saw evidence of this as we visited each location. Improvements were needed to achieve consistency in documentation, accessible information, and proactive planning for life changes.