Helping Hands Northallerton

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 inspection for this 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 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The service 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 vision and culture of the service was embedded at the start of staff’s employment journey. A pre-employment induction was undertaken to discuss the service’s values and assess staff’s suitability for the caring profession. All staff prioritised the delivery of safe, high-quality care. Staff comments included, “Really enjoy it. Keeps us on our toes” and “I love it, I love my job. It’s really rewarding. The customers give me a reason to get up in the morning. We all get on really well, we’re good team and get on great.”

The service 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 described the actions they undertook to ensure people, relatives and staff were involved in the running of the organisation. People received calls to check their experience, staff were invited to informal discussions such as drop-in sessions as well as attending regular staff meetings. The priorities for the service were understood and actions require to attain those priorities were recorded and monitored. Comments from staff included, “Easy to get hold of anyone in management. No issues”, “The management are brilliant” and “Everyone is really nice and hard working.”

The service fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. Staff felt confident to speak up, should they need to do so. Comments from staff included, “Yes, I can voice my concerns and would be listened to”, “Yes, and they would be listened to”, “We try to have two staff meetings a month, but it can be hard getting all the team together. Lessons learnt are shared. We go through care notes and discuss customers” and “The meetings have been pretty good.”

The service valued diversity in their workforce. They work towards an inclusive and fair culture by improving equality and equity for people who work for them. The service provided an inclusive and fair culture for staff. Staff were treated as individuals and were supported as such. Staff confirmed they felt valued, supported and respected. A staff member told us, “Yes, I feel completely valued and respected. I love my job.”

The service had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance. They used these to manage and deliver good quality, sustainable care, treatment and support. They act on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, and share this securely with others when appropriate. The service had robust governance and management structures in place. Management responsibilities were clearly documented. Regular audits took place and concerns were quickly identified and appropriate action taken. For example, every aspect of the service was audited, and any areas of concern or discrepancies were identified, recorded and had required actions for improvement clearly defined. These actions were tracked and monitored until completed. Clearly defined responsibilities were in place for each role.

The service understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, so services work seamlessly for people. They share information and learning with partners and collaborate for improvement. The service understood the needs of people to stay socially active and engaged in their communities. The service was conscious of ensuring partnership working across all aspects of the local community.

The service 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 contribute to safe, effective practice and research. The registered manager had a thorough understanding of the performance of the service, across all aspects. Consideration was given to the service's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risk. These were regularly reviewed and actions defined and monitored to ensure improvement. A staff member confirmed, “I have discussed this. I would like to do end of life training, and I am being given that opportunity.”