Alphacare NW

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. During this inspection this has improved to 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 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. For example, the provider would regularly engage with the local authority to ensure people were supported to leave hospital quickly to help provide capacity local hospitals.

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. Staff told us they were skilled and team meeting minutes included any recent or up to date changes to health and social care and legislation.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. A staff member told us, “The managers are easily accessible via phone calls or with physical meetings in the office.” Another member of staff discussed how they would raise any concerns with the managers.

The provider valued diversity in their workforce. They work towards an inclusive and fair culture by improving equality and equity for people who work for them. Where possible staff with different skills and abilities were taken on and skill matched to work with the most appropriate person.

The provider now 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. A variety of audits were now taking place to check the quality of service provision. These included for medicines, care plans and call time logs. The recent medicines audits had identified areas of improvement, and there was an action plan in place to address this.

The provider 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. We saw numerous examples of where the providers had worked alongside local care arrangers to ensure people’s care packages were started as soon as possible.

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 managers continuously gathered feedback from staff and people, which they evaluated, and changes were implemented as a result, to enrich peoples experience.