AAA Homecare Limited - Teesside

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

This is the first inspection for this newly registered service. This key question has been rated good. The registered manager fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and that their voice would be heard. The registered manager had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively. They did so with integrity, openness and honesty. An effective quality assurance system in place although this was still being embedded with new processes as the service grew. The registered manager used quality audits, feedback and other checks 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. They valued diversity in their workforce. The provider had systems in place to ensure an inclusive and fair culture was created, which consistently looked at how to improve equality and equity for the people they provided support to and people who worked for them. Staff we contacted were passionate about providing good care outcomes and took ownership for their practice. The registered manager understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership with others and feedback from care managers and commissioners was very positive. One commissioner said, “Communication is always excellent, calls are always returned and there is always a feeling that the service and the manager are happy to offer help and support.”

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 registered manager had a vision, strategy and culture of putting people first and ensuring care was person centred. Staff we spoke with echoed that the management team were supportive and listened to their views.

The policies and procedures the service had in place were based on providing transparency, equity, equality and human rights, diversity and inclusion, engagement, and understanding challenges and the needs of people and local communities.

All staff we spoke with told us the registered manager was a supportive and listening figurehead. One staff we spoke with said, "Management are always on the other end of the phone no matter what time of day if you have any questions. I feel like professionally and personally management are very supportive."

The registered manager regularly undertook care visits and told us they tried to lead by example. Systems were in place to check staff practices embodied the organisation’s culture and values. Feedback from people, relatives and partners were positive about the leadership of the service. One care manager told us, "Communication between the registered manager and other employees is excellent. [Name] or his team lead are always available for pre assessment meetings, reviews and to meet adhoc as problems arise."

All staff we spoke with stated they felt able to speak up, raise a concern and felt listened to. One of the team leaders told us, "I am able to talk to the registered manager about anything and carers can talk to him. He deals with things really well." Another staff member said, "Fantastic support from my team members and management I just make one phone call and I am supported."

The registered manager had policies and systems in place, which aimed to foster a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and that their voice would be heard.

Everyone we spoke to from the staff team stated they felt supported and team work was positive. The workforce was diverse and everyone stated they felt valued. One staff member said, "I feel very supported in my role all the staff are amazing and very supportive if you have any concerns or questions."

The registered manager had ensured equality, diversity and inclusion policies were in place and these were followed. The registered manager valued diversity and followed best practice guidance.

Staff told us they were involved in being asked for feedback to determine if improvements could be made at the service. One staff said, " Yes, I am able to make suggestions or raise issues with the management team. They are generally open to listening and do take our concerns into account. "

Some governance processes were still being embedded as the provider has only been operating for 8 months, however we did see a system of audits, quality feedback from people and a system of regular overview with fellow directors were in place. The registered manager and two team leaders regularly held meetings to discuss risk, service delivery and areas for improvement. There were arrangements in place to ensure data management systems were effective at maintaining the availability, integrity and confidentiality of data and records. Clear business continuity plans were in place.

People told us they were happy with the support they received and felt staff were competent, kind and treated them with dignity and respect. Relatives also felt staff were skilled and they contacted health professionals when needed. One person told us, "[Name] the registered manager is very sincere. We have had a coffee and a cake with him to discuss things - he checks up on us - he is like a brother to us!"

The staff team worked proactively and positively with partner agencies to ensure people received the best possible joined up care and support.

We spoke with 2 commissioners and one care manager who were all positive in their views of AAA Homecare. One care manager said "I feel AAA Homecare is an excellent care provider and I could not speak more highly of them." Another commissioner stated, "Communication is always excellent, calls are always returned and there is always a feeling that the service and the manager are happy to offer help and support, very polite and understanding."

Systems and processes were in place to enable the service to develop good links with the local community and work in partnership with other agencies to improve people's wellbeing. The registered manager had put measures in place to ensure the service worked seamlessly for people and helped them achieve positive outcomes.

Staff told us that learning and new ways of working were shared with them quickly. One staff member said, "Communication would be sent out via the Careberry application so we know if anything has changed. I have no concerns on the communication side of things, we get updated with things very quickly."

The registered manager had processes in place for staff to ensure continuous improvement through innovation and learning was achieved. The service had an open and honest philosophy about learning from mistakes or issues and were open to feedback from people, staff and partners. We saw the provider's app used to record people's care was a new system that the registered manager had worked on with the developer to ensure it was useful and innovative. For example, it had created an extra security level so staff had to insert an additional password to obtain a key code for people's property. This meant people's personal details were additionally secure.