Agincare

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. This is the first assessment 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 provider had a shared vision, strategy and culture. The registered manager had a clear vision of how to sustainably grow the service without compromising safety and quality. This included taking on additional care packages gradually and planning which geographical areas staff could cover. The registered manager was considering expanding the service to include providing care for adults with a learning disability. In preparation, they had ensured staff had received training in this area. This reflected a measured and responsible approach to developing the service. The registered manager promoted a positive and inclusive ethos. For example, they had taken action to improve communication between office and care staff after feedback that staff had experienced some issues. This demonstrated a pro-active approach to engagement with staff to improve the culture at the service.

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. The registered manager was suitably qualified and experienced in their role. They were also the registered manager for one of the provider’s other services. They retained oversight of the quality of care when away from the service through remote monitoring systems and delegation of duties to senior staff. Senior staff had received appropriate training and ongoing development programmes relevant to their roles.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. Staff told us they felt comfortable in speaking up and raising issues to senior staff. The provider had a whistleblowing policy in place and staff had received training in line with this policy. The registered manager demonstrated an open approach in their engagement with staff and acted to address their concerns when received.

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. For example, the registered manager demonstrated how they made reasonable adjustments to staff’s working patterns and training programmes, to ensure staff were treated fairly and given appropriate support in their role. This included additional support for staff recruited from abroad when they were adapting to living in a new country.

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, and shared this securely with others when appropriate. Senior staff completed real time audits of people’s day to day care, through monitoring of the electronic care planning system. This helped them to monitor care call times, durations, care tasks completed and medicines administration. They also completed monthly audits in key areas such as, medicines records, care records and care plans. This helped senior staff identify any issues or emerging trends related to people’s care. The registered manager and provider’s senior management completed more comprehensive audits of the service, including an audit in line with CQC’s assessment framework. This helped to ensure the provider had a robust overview of the quality of care.

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. There was evidence of partnership working with key stakeholders, including commissioners, other providers and health professionals. For example, the provider made referrals to health and social care professionals when people’s needs changed, acting on their recommendations to adjust care where required. This helped to promote positive outcomes for people using the service.

The provider focused on continuous learning and improvement across the organisation. There were action plans in place to detail how improvements would be made in response to feedback and findings from audits. Actions plans were regularly reviewed, to evaluate how effective the measures taken had been in driving improvement. The registered manager had recognised where improvements were needed and had taken action to address issues and concerns. This included implementing face to face staff training and improving the ongoing support staff received. Staff told us they had benefited from this new training format, as it helped to give them a better understanding of their role.