Caring Hands (Wiltshire)

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

There was 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 had shared their values with people, setting out what they should expect from the service. People and staff told us the provider and registered manager demonstrated these values in the way they worked.

There were 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. Staff told us the provider and registered manager provided them with the support they needed to do their job well.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. The registered manager told us the service had speaking up procedures, which staff could use if they needed to. Details were shared with staff during their induction, team meetings and supervision sessions. Staff told us they knew how to raise concerns and were confident the management would listen to them and respond. As the provider and registered manager were related, they had provided staff with contact details of an external consultant they could raise concerns with if needed, to help prevent the development of a closed culture.

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. The provider and registered manager told us they had supported staff to make reasonable adjustments to their working patterns where needed, to support them to remain at work. Staff told us they felt very well supported by the management team.

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. They acted on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes. The management team completed a range of audits and observations of staff practice to monitor the quality of the service. This information was used to plan improvements to the service. However, these systems had not ensured the management team fulfilled their statutory duty to report incidents to the local authority and Care Quality Commission on one occasion. The provider took immediate action to submit this notification during the assessment.

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 told us they worked with a range of other professionals to help make sure people received continuity in their care. People and relatives gave examples of the service working in partnership with other agencies, including community and specialist nursing services. Healthcare professionals were positive about the way the service worked with them, to meet people’s needs.

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 provider had worked with specialist services to help develop ways to support people to be as independent as possible. Information and training had been shared with staff to ensure there was a consistent approach to supporting people.