North Tyneside Learning Disability Service

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.

This is the first full assessment for this registered service. This key question has been rated 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 71 (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. Staff embraced people’s differences, and this was evident during our visits to people.We witnessed an open-door policy, and staff had the opportunity to take part in the running of the service by contributing their views at supervision and staff meetings. One staff member said, “Managers share any information found, on the workplace site which acts like an information hub.”

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 fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard and had systems in place to support this. Staff were supported to be open and share concerns with the management team. Staff told us they could speak up and voice their concerns. They knew what to do and felt confident any issues raised would be acted on.

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 had regular contact with the management team and there was no discrimination or harassment. They told us they worked well as a team.

The provider had not always had clear systems of accountability and good governance. A small number of notifications to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) had not been sent. The provider sent these to us retrospectively and updated their processes, so this would not happen again.The service had been without a registered manager for some time, although managers had been in place. An application to register was now being processed.The provider acted on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, and shared this securely with others when appropriate.An action plan was in place which had been developed with the management team to address shortfalls they had identified. Any feedback we gave during the assessment, was acted upon and updates made to enhance processes for the future governance of the service.

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 provider was in the process of gathering information about opportunities available in the local community [called mapping] for people to be involved with.

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.The management team supported the assessment process and were open and acted with integrity. They wanted to improve any areas of feedback and acted immediately to further enhance the service. Action plans were used efficiently to address any concerns and identify better ways to deliver the service.One staff member told us the management team had reviewed staff skills and knowledge and said, “(The management team are now) Trusting staff judgement and trusting us to make decisions due to our experience.”