NCC First Support - Eastern

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 inspection we rated this key question requires improvement and there was one breach of regulation relating to governance. At this inspection, the rating has changed to good and the service is no longer in breach. 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. Feedback received from the people who used the service, their relatives, staff, and professionals demonstrated the service worked to their shared vision. This was to provide early support to prevent health deterioration/readmission to hospital, encouraging independence and supporting people to live well with complex needs.

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. Whilst some staff raised concerns about how recent changes had been implemented, they agreed managers demonstrated the skills and attributes to lead the service in a supportive, effective, and open way nurturing a positive culture.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. Staff told us this and policies and procedures were in place to support this. For example, a staff member told us, “I have regular supervisions which make me feel supported by my line manager and valued. I feel comfortable to raise any concerns. Also, my manager gives me feedback on which area I need to improve or let me know where I did well.”

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. Procedures were in place to support this and staff received training in equality in the workplace, the Equality Act 2010 and anti-racism in practice.

The provider had clear responsibilities, roles, and systems of accountability. 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 and shared this securely with others when appropriate. However, whilst the provider had identified most of the shortfalls found at this inspection and an action plan was in place to address them, their governance systems had not been wholly effective at generating prompt rectification . For example, despite the service identifying shortfalls around risk management, this was still evident at this inspection.

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 professionals who provided us with feedback consistently told us the service worked well with them with a shared aim to support people back to health. A professional told us, “The service has many cases where they have supported with reducing the risks of carer breakdown and avoided hospital re-admission. It is clear in my professional role that vulnerable adult’s wellbeing and hospital waiting lists would be at a much higher risk without the existence of NCC First Support - Eastern.”

The provider focused on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. They encouraged creative ways of delivering equality of experiences, outcomes, and quality of life for people. They actively contributed to safe, effective practice and research. For example, the service provided consistently good quality and effective care to people and, through the robust measurement of outcomes the service completed, this was demonstrated by the records we viewed. Furthermore, the service used reflective practice when things went wrong to learn from them and improve the service.