Right at Home Camden, Hampstead & Golders Green

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

The service was exceptionally well-led. People, relatives and staff all told us the way the service was led was outstanding and distinctive. There was positive culture of providing excellent care to people. People said the registered manager “goes the extra mile to make sure we have everything we need.” Leaders promoted a culture of excellent care and led by example to provide this. The service played an active role in the local community to benefit people who used the service and beyond. There were effective systems in place to monitor and improve people’s quality of care and continue to develop the service. Staff worked in partnership with other services to meet people’s holistic needs.

This service scored 89 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The director and registered manager promoted a clear mission and a distinctive, positive culture of providing excellent care to people. There was an evident effect of this culture on both people's care and their lived experiences, and on staff commitment and morale. The director’s stated aim was for the service to positively impact people and the local community and to treat staff like family. A person told us, “I cannot praise [them] enough for what they do.” A staff member told us, “I think it is a very nice place to work, there’s nothing else like it.” Another staff member said, “[The director and registered manager] want to go above and beyond, to give people independence and the best care. They have high standards, they want the carers to perform well. I feel supported to.”

The provider’s processes helped to embed the service’s aims and values in day to day practice. Staff recruitment focused on ensuring staff demonstrated empathy, a person-centred approach and values fitting for their roles. The managers set out clear professionals boundaries and expectations for staff and reinforced these through training, supervision and quality monitoring.

All staff described the leadership from the registered manager and director as consistently excellent and distinctive. They were visible and engaged with staff and led by example. There was a strong sense of trust between staff and the leadership team. Comments from staff about the registered manager included, “Amazing”, “Patient and skilful”, “Ready to support you, when you have concerns you can call at any time” and “They go out of their way and are very approachable and very kind.”

The manager had effective systems in place to respond to people and relatives in a prompt and compassionate way. As a result people and relatives all spoke of the way the service was led in exceptional and distinctive terms. A relative described this as “conscientious, very caring, experienced and knowledgeable.” A person said, “[The registered manager] is very good, helpful and caring.” A relative said, “[The registered manager] has been very helpful and is very knowledgeable. [They are] always quick to pick up the phone or if they are not available they are prompt to return my call.” The manager was able to identify opportunities to make adjustments to people’s care that would improve their involvement. A relative had complimented the service explaining, “The manager, on learning that [the person] was too frail to walk outside, offered to bring a wheelchair and take [them] for a spin which [they] really enjoyed!” The service leaders were knowledgeable about people’s individual care needs, the running of the service and their priorities for maintaining care quality and developing the service. They accessed appropriate support and expertise for this from the wider provider organisation. This included a regional care quality manager who was in regular contact with the service and national provider diversity champions.

The registered manager promoted an open and transparent environment. They encouraged staff to raise issues and concerns so these could be known and addressed. Staff were confident they could always speak to senior managers when they needed to and would listened to and supported. Staff described the registered manager as “Very approachable” and “You can approach [the registered manager] at any time.” Staff knew to raised concerns to others if needed, such as the statutory services or the provider’s national quality assurance team.

The provider had appropriate policies and procedures in place to support and promote staff raising issues. The registered manager investigated concerns in a sensitive and timely manner. They identified and acted on lessons from these to continue to improve the service.

Staff spoke of a service culture and working environment that was fair and equitable. Staff said, “There’s no preferential treatment and all are involved” and “The work environment is lovely, it is genuine and kind.” Staff were encouraged and confident to provide feedback about the service and support for their roles. The registered manager had made reasonable adjustments to support different staff to carry out their roles well. They explained how they valued and appreciated their staff team, backgrounds and encouraged discussions about people’s diverse cultures. The team celebrated different cultural events and dates to help promote an inclusive work place.

The service had an equality, diversity and human rights policy in place looking to ensure employees and people using the service were not discriminated against. The management team was implementing an equality and diversity action plan to develop how their workforce could be representative of the population of people using the service. The plan included a new ‘Safe to be You’ initiative to provide training on and raise awareness to support LGBTQ+ people and staff. Staff completed equality and diversity training to promote inclusive approaches to their work.

Staff understood and felt invested in their roles to provide good quality care. The registered manager and supervisors conducted regular spot-checks on staff while they worked in people’s homes. Staff told us they appreciated these and valued the feedback they received. The service also called and visited people and their relatives to check they were happy with the care. People we spoke with confirmed this took place. For example, a person said, “They phone regularly to check everything is alright.” The registered manager accessed external resources such as from local authorities, Skills for Care, CQC and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to stay up to date with good practice requirements.

The were effective management and governance systems in place. The registered manager conducted a range of audits and checks to monitor and improve the quality of the service. For example, they maintained a comprehensive audit tool based on the CQC’s key questions to ensure the service was compliant with care standards and regulations. This included reviewing people’s care arrangements and staff recruitment training and support. The audits informed a service improvement plan which the director ensured the registered manager acted on. A regional care quality manager regularly audited the service and the registered manager acted on any issues they identified. The registered manager could also request the quality manager focus on particular service areas to help them maintain and improve their oversight.

People and their relatives had told us the provider engaged with them regularly to ensure they received person-centred care. Staff supported people to use healthcare services and access other services and amenities in their communities.

Staff and managers recognised the importance working with other agencies to help people and did so regularly. The registered manager encouraged a mutual partnership working for care staff during and after team meetings. A member of staff told us, “we have a get-together at the end, it is fun.” This helped cultivate team working and support. The service held an end of summer barbeque for people, relatives, staff and other members of the community to attend together. This helped to foster support networks for people to engage with. The director was developing relationships with other providers and groups in the local area. This was so they could lead on creating networked solutions to common issues services maybe experiences so as to make a positive difference to more people in the community. The director sent out regular ‘wellbeing’ newsletters to people, relatives and other services in the community. These focused on promoting healthy eating recipes, accessible movement exercises and reading recommendations, as well as travel tips, safety advice and special discounts at local retailers. Feedback showed these were appreciated. The director was a board member of local charities promoting community support and inclusion. The connection had enabled the care service to provide emergency life support training to a local volunteer service. This promoted safer support for people using this service and the wider community.

Professionals we spoke with described useful, positive relationships with the service. They said the service communicated well and proactively with them about people’s care. One professional said there “really was strong partnership working” when the service supported a person with complex care needs. This helped other agencies to support the person.

The service played an active role in the local community and worked collaboratively with other agencies to do so. For example, the director had set up regular ‘memory cafés’ in a local community hall as there were no such resources for people nearby. People who used the service and members of the public living with dementia and memory issues could attend and enjoy activities such as art, games, stories and music. The service had also raised money for local charities. These initiatives benefited both people who used the service and members of the public. Systems and processes, such as the assessment, care planning and review of people’s needs, enabled the service to work in partnership with other agencies to support people. For example, with district nurses, the local safeguarding adults team, pharmacists, complex care practitioners, occupational therapists and GPs.

There was a particularly strong emphasis on continuous improvement and finding new ways to provide meaningful care to people, led by the director and registered manager. They encouraged staff to suggest ideas for improvement and innovation and spent time listening to them. Staff told us, “They say, ‘what can we do to improve?’ If you have an idea, you can freely talk and express it.” Staff appreciated this and felt integral to the improvement work. The service recognised and celebrated when staff made extra efforts to provide special care and shared this for others to follow. For example, the registered manager shared pictures of how well a care worker had prepared and presented a person’s meals as exemplar practice for other staff to follow. Staff were awarded a monthly ‘Going the Extra Mile’ prize in recognition of Also, the registered manager had reflected on how over time staff had learnt so much about a person’s life story as their abilities declined so they now ensured all care plans included detailed information about people’s life story, hobbies and interests.

There were robust and effective systems in place to support learning, innovation and improvement across the service. The service invested in staff training, development and qualifications to build on their capabilities. The registered manager produced regular staff newsletters and used these to keep staff informed about any service developments, promote good practices and to praise their performance. The director had recently launched a ‘Going the Extra Mile’ champion initiative. They met with care staff twice a week to help them consider more creative opportunities to exceed people’s expectations based knowing them very well. The champion told us they encouraged staff to “do what your heart thinks is nice for the client” and “find out what the clients need and want without them telling us.” The service had introduced an annual award for care staff who demonstrated the most compassion and dedication in their work. This was inspired by and named after a person who used the service before passing and was developed in consultation with their relative. People and relatives said they were supported by staff who looked to make improvements to people’s daily living. A relative said, “they will do things and suggest things that make life easier for [the person].” People were able to say what they thought about the service and the managers used this to monitor and make improvements to how this was provided. The service encouraged people to give feedback about service by asking them to leave a review on a named, independent website. At the time of our assessment the service has a 98% satisfaction rate on this site.