Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust

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

Leaders had the integrity, skills and abilities to run the service. They understood and managed the priorities and issues the service faced. They were visible and approachable in the service for children, young people, their families and staff. They supported staff to develop their skills. Staff felt supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of the children and young people receiving care as well as supporting their relatives. The service had an open culture where children, young people, their families and staff could raise concerns without fear. Leaders operated effective governance processes. Staff at all levels were clear about their role and accountability with regular opportunities to meet, discuss and learn from the performance of the service. The service identified and escalated relevant risks. Leaders and staff actively and openly engaged with children, young people, their families, staff and people with lived experiences to plan and collaborate to help improve the services. All staff were committed to continually learning and improving services.

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.

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.

We did not look at Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

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.

Staff understood their responsibilities, roles and systems of accountability. Information about risk, performance and outcomes was shared securely with staff at team meetings and individual supervision meetings. Staff felt able to raise concerns about risks to their managers and other professionals where it was appropriate. Managers collated information and attended a variety of committee meetings to discuss how well the service was performing. Staff used the information fed back to them to manage and deliver good quality, sustainable care, treatment and support. For example, audit processes identified where improvement was needed in completing supervisions. Staff worked to complete these more fully and subsequent audits had shown an improvement.

Processes used were focused on providing a safe and sustainable service. A workforce planning tool helped managers to plan for future staffing needs. Audits were used to assess staff compliance with equipment maintenance for example. Audit results were reviewed at governance committee meetings which were reported to the provider’s level of governance of the service. We saw actions for improvement were identified and progress monitored. Staff retention within the service was encouraged and had improved. Staff were supported using supervision and discussions about career progression for those who wanted it. Policies we saw used national guidelines and best practice where available and were easily accessible for staff. Regular meetings with local authorities and other providers focused on business continuity and sustainability of the service.

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.

Staff were knowledgeable about the service they provided and felt improved systems helped staff to support families. Staff were actively encouraged to share ideas for improvement and were involved in solution focused problem-solving activities in teams. Newly developed assessment tools for equipment had created a more comprehensive process when providing equipment for children and young people and families to use. Staff felt passionate about learning and were encouraged to progress in their career and take up additional training. This included offering staff a fully funded postgraduate diploma while being employed and working within the service. Staff trusted their line managers to escalate their thoughts and comments to senior leaders within the integrated care trust and received feedback from them. Learning was shared using a range of methods such as individual emails, access to meeting notes and regular newsletters shared on an internal platform.

Processes supported staff to be part of a learning environment with a focus on improvement and innovation. Learning from incidents, near misses and errors was shared regularly with staff using a variety of messaging methods. Electronic systems provided automatic feedback and discussion was a regular part of team meetings and individual staff support meetings. Team meetings had regular agenda items which included staff voice. The mandatory training platform also included additional training for staff to access. There had been engagement activities with people who had used the service and their families and further engagement opportunities for the coming year were displayed on the service’ website and across social channels. This was to provide a process for families to contribute to service improvement. Technology used by staff supported a systematic way of recording care needs and sharing information between relevant professionals. Staff had adapted the technology to create care records which included an integrated risk assessment form. Staff had also managed to add a function which translated documents. This supported families to understand care and treatment options.